Members of Tampa area music group gunned down in Polk County bar

AUBURNDALE — Authorities say two Tampa-area DJs and an associate from Deltona were shot and killed inside a central Florida bar early this morning.

Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said says 35-year-old Michael S. Rattigan, 29-year-old Antone G. Neely and 29-year-old Kevin Jordache Webster were shot in the Thunderbird Bar in Auburndale, about 50 miles east of Tampa.

The Sheriff's Office doesn't have the names of any suspects, but they have descriptions of two men they believe are connected with the shooting. They were seen fleeing the bar, possibily leaving in a white four-door BMW sedan, Wood said.

She said the shooting may be related to an incident at the bar early May 10, when deputies were called to the bar after shots were fired. No one was injured, Wood said, but the Sheriff's Office has received information that the altercation earlier this month might have led to this morning's shooting.

Rattigan, whose stage name is Chris Rock, is part of the reggae DJ group Poison Dart. Neely performs as Tony Montana, a separate act that plays with Poison Dart. The sheriff's office identified Webster as an associate of the DJs.

"This is a brutal murder scene," said Sheriff Grady Judd.  "It appears this had something to do with the DJs, as they were the only victims we know of."  Sheriff Judd encouraged residents and patrons of the bar to contact the Sheriff's Office.  "Someone knows the name of who did this, and we need that name."

Wood says no one has been arrested, and that only some of the bar's patrons are cooperating with detectives.

Neely and Webster died at the scene. Rattigan was transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where he died.

The Sheriff's Office has released the descriptions of the two suspects in hopes that witnesses will call with more information.

One suspect is a black male between the ages of 23 and 30, 6 feet to 6-foot-2, 200 to 225 pounds, with short, braided hair. He was wearing black dress slacks, a black short-sleeve button-up shirt and loafers.

The second is a black male between the ages of 23 and 30, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-7, 150 to 170 pounds, with a short, braided hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a beige jacket with a hoodie.

The victims were playing at the club's Chaka Fridays, a regular reggae night featuring jerk chicken and curry goat, according to a promotional flier.

Don Rastic, a Tampa promoter who worked with Poison Dart, said he saw Neely and Rattigan shortly before their show. They were shopping at a record store to prepare for the gig, Rastic said. Rattigan, who immigrated from Clarendon, Jamaica, to pursue a childhood dream of being a DJ, organized the show and could have made a few thousand dollars from the night, Rastic said.

They were looking forward to a good turnout for the white-and-green theme party.

"Then to hear this, like, what, ten hours later, it's crazy," Rastic said. "My condolences to all their people. They're not gangsters, they're not drug dealers. They're just DJs that got a little star power."

Reached at his Deltona home Saturday, David Webster, the father of victim Kevin, said the family is also Jamaican.

"He was a good son," Webster said. "I can't even talk, I'm just completely destroyed."

Anyone with information is asked to call Polk County Sheriff's Office's homicide detective Todd Magyarosi at (863) 534-6379 or (863) 534-6200.

--Robbyn Mitchell, Jessica Vander Velde and Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writers