A man died Monday night after he was shot by nine officers following a tense and chaotic series of events that began at a boat ramp and ended in a crash in Atlantic Beach, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
According to JSO, the incident began around 6 p.m. at the Dutton Island Preserve boat ramp, where a couple from Georgia was fishing when they heard gunshots from across the water.
The couple told police they saw a man, 37, shooting a rifle into the water, and the husband decided to approach the man and ask him if he was OK.
When the husband approached the man, things turned tense fast when the 37-year-old pointed his rifle at him, police said.
JSO said the husband then attempted to de-escalate the situation, and as he walked away, the man with the rifle could be heard saying, “I know you guys already called the police, and the only way they’re getting me out of here is dead.”
The husband and the man engaged in conversation again, police said, and as the incident began to de-escalate, the man asked the couple if they had anything he could drink.
As the husband went to hand the man a sports drink, JSO said, the man pointed the rifle at the husband’s head, which led to a scuffle over the gun.
Police said the husband managed to get on top of the other man during a brief fight and removed the magazine.
But that wasn’t the end of the encounter.
After the couple and the man got into their respective vehicles, the man tried to ram the couple with his truck, “barreling at them head-on,” police said.
When the couple veered to the right, the vehicles sideswiped one another.
When the couple made it to the front of the neighborhood, they realized that the man had been involved in a separate crash on Mayport Road and had hit a pole.
JSO said its officers arrived at the Mayport Road crash scene and talked with the man from about 6:05 p.m. to 7:33 p.m., giving him multiple commands.
Police said the man “acted like he couldn’t get out of the door” and was “almost barricaded” near the back window of the vehicle.
JSO said the man’s door was cracked open, and officers saw him pick up a rifle case, open it, and reach into it, which led to nine officers firing their weapons.
The man died at the scene.
JSO said this incident marked the 14th officer-involved shooting of this year and that the State Attorney’s Office is conducting its investigation into the matter.
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Source: news4jax
