Tampa man declines to mark himself safe during The Shooting in Ybor City

Following a shooting incident in Ybor City early this morning, in which two people were killed and 18 were injured, many Tampa residents took to Facebook to mark themselves as “safe” in order to notify family and friends of their status and alleviate their concerns.

Declining to take that step is Dave Schlitner of Tampa.

“I started to but then I thought, ‘you know what, let them wonder’,” he said. “I feel like they don’t worry about me very much. And honestly, I don’t really do much to give them anything to worry about most of the time. So this is kind of a golden opportunity for me.”

To date, nobody has called to check up on him but he feels that eventually somebody will notice his lack of presence on social media.

“Although that’s never been the case before so maybe not. I think most people who know me are aware that I don’t even go to Ybor. But there were 20 people directly hurt and I could be one of them. They don’t know. Let them think about that and consider the possibility that they take me for granted sometimes,” he said. “It’s worth a shot, pardon the expression.”