JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Law enforcement officers fatally wounded two men in separate shootings in northeast Florida.
A St. Augustine police officer and a St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday outside a condominium. Sheriff’s officials said the man had tried to drive away from the condo drunk and when people stopped him he pulled a gun, causing them to call 911.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan told the St. Augustine Record that when the officer and deputy went to the man’s door, he opened it while holding a gun.
“The individual was a short distance away and had a firearm in his hand, acting in a despondent manner,” Mulligan said. “They tried to convince him to de-escalate the situation. They were looking to do that when the individual turned the firearm and pointed it at the officer and deputy.”
The second shooting happened about an hour later in Jacksonville, 40 miles to the north.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says four officers stopped a car with three men for a traffic violation. Chief T.K. Waters said the front seat passenger was “agitated” and the officers spent several minutes trying to calm the man. The four officers shot the man and a gun was found on his seat, Waters said. Further details were not immediately available.
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