British tourists murder suspect was spared jail last week

Shawn Tyson, a 16-year-old juvenile who lives close to the murder scene, is being held by police on suspicion of murdering James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, on Saturday night.

The pair had been holidaying at a resort in Longboat Key with Mr Cooper’s parents, but their bullet-ridden bodies were found at 3am in Newtown, a socially deprived neighbourhood of Sarasota, some 12 miles away.

On Monday, it emerged that Tyson was freed by a judge last week despite being arrested over an armed robbery. He had been charged with aggravated assault after shots were fired in the incident two weeks ago. However, he was released while police carried out further inquiries.

Police said he would now be charged as an adult which could lead to the death penalty.

Detectives are continuing to investigate what led Messrs Kouzaris and Copper from a night out in the centre of Sarasota to the crime-ridden district where they were shot dead, but one theory they are working on is that they could have been driven there to be murdered as part of a gang initiation.

Officers suspect they believed they were being driven the 12 miles to the resort of Longboat Key. Instead, they were taken to Newtown, Sarasota, where they were confronted by a gang of masked men.

It is believed that both men were running away when they were shot. Their bodies were found 50ft apart. They still had money on them and police found no evidence to suggest they had been wanting to buy drugs.

Captain Paul Sutton said detectives were “examining all theories” and “keeping an open mind” as to how and why the friends came to be in the “no-go” area.

Asked whether there could be more arrests in the case, Capt Sutton said: “We’re looking at the possibility. More than one person ran when the shots were fired.

“Are other people involved or is it people who just happened to be there?”

Police confirmed the two Britons were not carrying any drugs but would not say whether they had any weapons or an unusually large amount of money.

Early reports that the men had been murdered with a machine gun were also quashed by Capt Sutton, but it is believed they were each shot a number of times.