PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – The Pasco Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a deputy-involved shooting that occurred Saturday morning at the Racetrac at the intersection of US 19 and Little Road.
No deputies were shot in the incident, but Sheriff Nocco says the suspect in currently in the ICU.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said a deputy pulled into the RaceTrac gas station get gas and coffee around 6 a.m. Nocco said the deputy encountered a man in his 70s who was talking about and rambling about wanting to kill people.
Nocco said, “The deputy offered him a cup of coffee and said, ‘let’s talk about this. Let’s try to figure out what’s going on in your life and help you out.'”
Click here to see the body-cam footage of the shooting at RaceTrac.
Nocco said that for 40 minutes, deputies tried to talk to the man to deescalate the situation when the man drove his car into a deputies patrol car.
Soon after, the man started shooting at deputies through his windshield. The deputies returned fire, striking the man.
“These are the tragedies we deal with in our society, these are the tragedies we deal with every day,” said Sheriff Chris Nocco.
Nocco says that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be leading the investigation and all information will be released by FDLE.
We will update this story with details as they are released.