Officer shot at; company offers reward for arrest

LARGO - A patrol officer who works for Critical Intervention Services, a Bay Area company that provides high-risk security services and solutions, was shot at over the weekend and the company is now offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

CIS says the officer was on a routine patrol in North Tampa shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, heading south on North 15th Street near the railroad tracks, when a shot was fired into the driver's side window of his vehicle.

The bullet shattered the window and barely missed the officer's head, according to the company.

Tampa police are investigating the shooting and are working to determine whether the officer was targeted or if it was a random act.

"Our officers are highly trained and very visible, making them targets for those who may wish to do harm to a uniformed authority figure," company President and CEO KC Poulin said in a statement. "Incidents such as these are proof positive as to how much the security industry has changed in the last decade. The responsibilities private security officers have put them in harm's way as much as their public sector counterparts."

According to CIS, the officer is very familiar with this area as it is part of his regular patrol. The officer is a corporal who has been with the company for three years. His name has not been released.

The officer was very lucky to walk away without injury, Poulin stated, and even finished his shift that night.

"Had the bullet hit an inch or two lower, the outcome could have been tragically different," he said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Tampa Police Department.