By Stephen Thompson
The Tampa Tribune
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Dallas Dwayne Carter, 44, had both hips replaced and was on disability, and whenever he tried to work, the pain just got worse.
He had two sons he had to take care of, and he had $6,000 in unpaid bills.
So Carter says in a suicide note he wrote before he fired 30 shots at Pinellas Park police Saturday night. They returned fire, killing him. The note was released this afternoon by the Pinellas Park Police Department.
“I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong,” Carter wrote. “I’m not really a bad person. Just life gets away from me sometime.”
He included the address of the boys’ mother in Maine and her telephone number. The boys are Christopher, 13, and Shawn, 8.
Police went to Shadow Run apartments at 12001 Belcher Road about 10:58 p.m. Saturday when a man called 911 saying he had a gun and his boys were in bed. He hung up when the dispatcher asked his name.
A crisis negotiator tried to contact Carter by phone and was moving into position to use a bullhorn when Carter began firing. Carter had a .40-caliber pistol and a .30-30-caliber rifle, police said. The shots struck buildings and walls, and Carter continued yelling and firing in the direction of the officers.
At 11:32 p.m., Carter came out of the apartment, armed with both guns, pointing them at officers. Three officers opened fire with handguns and a rifle, police said. They fired 10 shots. Paramedics at the scene declared Carter dead.
The three officers are on paid leave while the shooting is investigated by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office and the Pinellas Park Police Department. One of the officers has been with the department 11 years, one for two years and one for nine months.
Copyright 2008 The Tampa Tribune