IN HER HOME, MINUTES OF FEAR, GUNFIRE

A Citrus County Woman's Version Of A Shootout That Left A Deputy In
Critical Condition Is At Odds With What Officers Say

CITRUS SPRINGS - Melissa Hawkins says that she and boyfriend Larry Edward
Robbins saw shadowy figures outside their front door early Friday.

He went to the door and peered through the glass. He called out, "Who's there?"

Silence. He said it again. No answer.

Then, she says, the door flew open and the room exploded with gunfire.

In moments, Robbins lay on the floor, pale and bleeding from wounds in his
shoulder, groin and foot.

Sheriff's Sgt. David M. DeCarlo, 35, was close by in the living room, hit
in the abdomen and left shoulder.

"Officer down! Officer down!" Hawkins heard. Then she saw DeCarlo's
Sheriff's Office jacket. That, she said, was the first moment she knew the
people were Citrus County deputies serving a search warrant.

Hawkins's version of events Friday is at odds with that of the Sheriff's
Office.

Officials said they knocked on the door and announced they were from the
Sheriff's Office. When Robbins opened the door, and as the four deputies
entered, the bullets started coming and they fired back.

On Saturday, both DeCarlo and Robbins were at Tampa General Hospital.
DeCarlo remained in critical condition, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman
Gail Tierney.

Robbins' condition was upgraded to fair. Robbins has been under watch,
Tierney said, and when he is ready to be released, he will be charged with
attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and possession
of a firearm by a convicted felon. He will be held without bail.

Jessica Labance, 20, who was visiting the house Hawkins rents at 9705 N
Cortlandt Drive in Citrus Springs, was treated for bullet wounds to her
hand and released Friday.

Police had been drawn to the house by accounts from a confidential
informant of sales of marijuana and cocaine there, the Sheriff's Office said.

Hawkins said, as far as she knew, no drugs were being sold at the house.
She said what authorities found Friday was nothing major: white residue, a
bottle of pills, a $5 bill with white residue.

Tierney said illegal narcotics were found at the house, but declined to
provide details on the drug type or quantities. She said there may be
additional charges as a result of the search.

Saturday, the Sheriff's Office referred questions about the shooting to the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is investigating.

FDLE spokesman Rick Morera would not comment on Hawkins' account and said,
"It's still very much an ongoing investigation for us."

The two children who were in the house when the shooting took place,
Robbins' 2-year-old son, Larry Robbins Jr., and Hawkins' 3-year-old
daughter, Jayda Hawkins, were turned over to Hawkins' grandparents, who
live in Citrus Springs.

Saturday afternoon, another front door was put on the house. Two bullet
holes mark a window. Dried blood stained the floor in two large areas.

Hawkins said she and Robbins had agreed not to have a gun in the house
because of the children and because they were both convicted felons.

She thought he had taken care of it. She didn't see a gun in his hand
Friday morning, but he might have had it in his pants, she said. Hawkins
does not think the deputies followed proper procedure, and she thinks
DeCarlo shot first.

Why would Robbins shoot first? she asked. It's common sense that shooting a
cop could mean jail forever, she said.

Robbins talked so much about changing, being a good example for his son,
Hawkins said. "I feel that's been taken away from him unjustly," she said.
"He lost his chance to do that."

"I don't hate cops or anything," Hawkins said, "but they ruined my world."