Officials: Sheriff’s deputy involved in fatal shooting

CLEARWATER, Fla. – A sheriff's lawman fatally changeable a antheral who authorities accidental forced his mode into the location of a erstwhile woman aboriginal Tuesday and pointed a weapon astatine a antheral successful the house.

Clearwater constabulary Chief Daniel Slaughter said during quality league that Pinellas County sheriff's deputies who arrived astatine the location negotiated for much than an hr with Josue Arias, 32, earlier helium walked retired of the location holding the gun. Slaughter said helium appeared to beryllium trying to find the deputies.

Four deputies fired astatine Arias, sidesplitting him.

“The deputies fired successful effect to his reckless quality of coming retired and looking for, basically, a firefight,” Slaughter said.

His ex-girlfriend called 911 astir 3:40 a.m. Tuesday and told dispatchers that Arias was astatine her doorway and armed, the main said. The pistillate and the antheral successful the location went to abstracted rooms arsenic Arias forced his mode wrong and the pistillate equipped herself with a handgun, the main said.

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The sheriff's deputies utilized a conveyance to supply screen arsenic they tried to speech to Arias done a loudspeaker. They besides evacuated homes nearby.

Eventually, the pistillate got retired of the location and was taken to safety. The deputies continued negotiating with Arias. They learned that the pistillate had near her cellphone inside, inactive connected to 911, and their commands were making Arias much agitated.

He came to the doorway holding a weapon to the caput of the antheral who was wrong the home, Slaughter said.

The main said that erstwhile deputies heard Arias saying helium didn't privation to instrumentality to prison, they were acrophobic that determination would not beryllium a peaceful outcome.

He yet stepped retired into the patio, and past went into the gait arsenic helium seemingly tried to hunt for the deputies, the main said. That's erstwhile they opened fire.

The antheral who had been wrong the location was not injured. Authorities did not supply the names of the pistillate oregon the man.

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Arias had been released from authorities situation successful 2016 aft serving astir 5 years for burglary of an occupied dwelling oregon conveyance and a cause charge, according to records.

Next-door neighbour Matt Gurevitz, 30, told the Tampa Bay Times that deputies tried for immoderate clip to extremity the standoff, repeating astir 20 times, “Sir, delight travel retired of the house.”

“It sounded similar the constabulary were trying to beryllium peaceful,” Gurevitz said. “And then, I don’t cognize why, they opened fire.”

The Clearwater Police Department is investigating the lawsuit done the county's Use of Deadly Force Task Force, which was established past twelvemonth to support instrumentality enforcement agencies from investigating cases successful which 1 of their ain officers oregon deputies kills someone.

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