By Mitchell Willetts
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
ORLANDO, Fla. — A deputy shot a man during a life-or-death struggle outside a Florida store, authorities say.
At about 8 a.m. Saturday, June 7, a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office saw a man “behaving suspiciously” behind a Save Discount Store in Pine Hills, Sheriff John Mina said in a news briefing.
Pine Hills is a northwestern suburb of Orlando.
According to Mina, the deputy went to talk with the man and ask him what he was doing inside a fenced-in area behind the store.
“The man initially looked like he was going to comply,” the sheriff said, but just after the deputy helped him over the fence, the man picked up a bag off the ground and tried to run.
The deputy tried to arrest the man, who then started hitting the deputy in the face, knocking him onto his back, Mina said. After knocking the deputy down, the man kept swinging, he said.
During the struggle, two guns spilled out of the man’s bag onto the ground, according to the sheriff.
The deputy was “in a fight for his life,” and the two men struggled for 1 minute and 16 seconds, Mina said, adding that he viewed body camera video of the encounter.
“This is an extremely long time to be in a fight, especially if you’re being punched in the face,” he said.
After punching the deputy in the face about 20 times, the man ran toward the guns that fell out of his bag and picked them up — and the deputy drew his pistol and shot him, according to the sheriff’s office.
The man was given first aid at the scene and taken to a hospital where he was in stable condition, according to Mina.
Mina visited the deputy at a hospital and said, “He seemed to be in good spirits.”
The man, who officials didn’t publicly name, will be charged with aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, according to Mina.
State investigators are looking into the shooting.
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