St. Cloud Police officers shot and killed a man in his 20s early Sunday morning they say has two-dozen arrests on his record who pulled a gun on them after a short chase.
At a press conference later in the morning, St. Cloud Police Chief Doug Goerke said officers responded to the incident behind the Starling Chevrolet car lot on East U.S. Highway 192 around 2:45 a.m., after an alarm company observed subjects "loitering and acting suspiciously" around the back of a building.
Arriving officers observed a black male suspect in the passenger side of a vehicle, Goerke said, and he "quickly fled" after officers commanded him to show his hands. He ran toward the neighboring Wawa convenience store at 192 and Old Hickory Tree Road, then over a fence into an adjoining yard.
After a brief chase, officers found him hiding in some bushes. He did not comply with more demands to show his hands. Minutes later, the suspect brandished a firearm pictured above, Goerke said, and an officer-involved shooting occurred. Two officers began lifesaving measures before the St. Cloud Fire Department transported the suspect to St. Cloud Hospital, where he reportedly succumbed to his injuries.
While Goerke did not identify the suspect by name as next-of-kin have not been notified, he noted he was a black male in his 20s from the Orlando area with "a lengthy criminal history which includes 17 felony arrests and eight misdemeanors."
"In his criminal history, (the suspect) has something similar to this at a Porsche dealership in the Orlando area, possibly breaking into a vehicle," the chief said.
The two officers involved, who Goerke said have been with SCPD less than a year were not injured, and are now on paid administrative leave as standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting. He also noted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
Goerke said as part of the active investigation detectives are still reviewing at surveillance video for roles played by another other suspects. He asked anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in that area at that time to contact the police department.
"We'd love to have that information," he said. "Everything will come out in the investigation, but I think our officers acted appropriately. I'm very proud of our officers, this is a very tragic incident. An officer doesn't go to work every day thinking they're going to have to shoot somebody. It's one of the unfortunate aspects of what we do every day. When a suspect produces a firearm, it's the suspect's actions that cause us to react the way we do."
