GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County sheriff's officers, assisting the Gainesville Police Department, found themselves in a harrowing situation May 12, when they shot an armed robbery suspect 12 times in a Gainesville shopping center, and it was all caught on dashcam video.
According to police, 46-year-old Yowab Ben-Israel had pulled a gun and robbed the post office on North Main Street, then fled the area on a bicycle with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Later that afternoon, when deputies caught up with Ben-Israel outside the Northside Shopping Center in Gainesville, the dashboard camera was recording as two deputies confronted him.
"Keep your hands where I can see 'em. Step right up here for me," one deputy said.
As Ben-Israel reaches into his pocket, the officer yells: "Sir stop. I will f**ing kill you! Get down!"
At that point two deputies opened fire. Ben-Israel was taken to UF Health/Shands in stable condition. He has recovered and is in the Alachua County jail
The Gainesville Police Department did recover his gun at the scene (pictured).
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the shooting. The deputies were cleared of any wrongdoing by the State Attorney's Office.
Ben-Israel is awaiting sentencing on charges of robbery with a firearm and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Former police officer and News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith watched the video and said that the deputies involved did exactly what they should have.
"(The deputies) are just trying to get him to comply. They were trying to get him to put the gun down, stay where he is. Get down and then we don't have to shoot you. But that's not the decision he made, and that's the result he got," Smith said.
In the video officers are heard using foul language and threatening the suspect and he explains with the adrenaline and the stress of a high stakes confrontation, officers may not be as kind as they could be.
"We're sitting here in an air-conditioned room, but when you're out there in the elements, a gun is being pointed at you, you may use some profanity! That's just natural, because you're under extremely high stress. It'd be nice if you say, ‘Okay Mr. Suspect, put the gun down.' But it's not realistic. You're looking at someone trying to take your life. You're going to say anything," Smith said.
If you look closely you see that the deputies have K-9 titles on their vests.
Gil said in a case like that, officers wouldn't use their dogs because they wouldn't send them on a suicide mission against an armed suspect.
