Two Florida sheriff’s deputies were seriously injured and the gunman was killed after a gunfight erupted at a public park, the sheriff’s office said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd praised the officers as heroes, saying he was shot while trying to pull an uncooperative man from his car after he refused commands to get out on his own. They found the vehicle early Saturday morning at a county park after it closed for the night.
Judd told reporters Saturday that preliminary information from investigators indicates the slain man fired first.
10 injured in shooting at Florida party, sheriff says
“He called for a gunfight and we gave him a gunfight,” the sheriff said. “And he’ll never be in a gunfight again, because he’s dead.”
Lt. Chad Anderson was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after the bullet passed through his arm and into his chest, Judd said. Deputy Craig Smith was shot four times in the right arm and his condition is stable in the intensive care unit, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff Grady Judd speaks about the arrest of Pastor Terry Jones during a press conference at the PCSO Southwest District Substation on September 11, 2013 in Lakeland, Florida. (Reuters/Pierre Ducharme)
Judd said the man in the car refused to cooperate when his colleagues tried to question him, so both deputies responded to their colleagues’ calls for backup. The Sheriff’s Office had ordered additional patrols in the area due to a spate of car thefts.
A total of four deputies and two cadets were attempting to remove the man from the vehicle before the shooting began. Judd said Anderson and Smith were at the car door and tried to pull the man out when the man pulled out a gun and fired. Lawmakers fired back.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately release the name of the man killed in the gunfight.
Polk County State’s Attorney Brian Haas said his office is investigating.
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“We want to act as soon as possible, but the most important thing is to be thorough,” Haas told reporters.
