A 77-year-old Florida man is alive today due to the resolved actions of police officers in an armed confrontation that could have ended much worse.
At 3:06 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, 2023, a 77-year-old white male, William Howard Irwin, was reported missing and endangered by a neighbor in the Wedgewood Manor subdivision in Zephyrhills.
As the call was being dispatched over the radio, a Zephyrhills Police Officer observed an elderly male subject acting disoriented, walking along North Avenue, and turning Northbound onto 8th Street, behind the Zephyrhills Post Office branch.
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The officer made contact with the subject, rolling down the window of his police cruiser to engage in conversation.
The subject, later identified as Irwin, ignored the officer and refused to speak.
The officer then parked and exited his vehicle and began walking toward Irwin to re-engage him in conversation.
The officer approached closer, Irwin revealed a .22 caliber semi-automatic Beretta, threatening that he wanted to have the officer shoot him.
Multiple backup units were dispatched at 3:08 p.m. and surrounded the location behind the post office, between North Avenue and south of the police headquarters entrance.
Watch: Caution; there may be language and violence in the video below.
Irwin was given verbal commands to drop the weapon.
The subject responded that he wanted to be shot and killed by police. He held the gun by his waist.
As Irwin refused to comply with given commands, Zephyrhills Police officers applied less lethal bean bag impact rounds and TASER ECW, causing Irwin to fall to the ground.
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Both Irwin and the weapon were safely secured. Irwin was taken into custody and treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
No Zephyrhills Police officers were injured during the incident.
Irwin has no prior arrests in Pasco County.
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