STARKE, Fla. – The 20-year-old man shot and killed by two Bradford County deputies Tuesday afternoon was carrying an assault-style rifle as he was running toward a building filled with about 40 children, authorities said.
Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith said Devaughdre Delsha Rogers was fatally shot by two of his deputies about 12:30 p.m. following a pursuit that ended outside the RJE Center, where a summer camp was in session, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and State Road 16.
Alicia McMillian, the director of the summer camp, told News4Jax on Wednesday that she believes Rogers came there to get help from his mother, who works with the children.
"That's the assumption I made since they ended up so close to here," she said. "He knew that his mother worked here and it's very possible he was trying to get to her."
The children wrote sympathy cards for Rogers' mother, who they lovingly call Miss KiKi.
One of the cards read, "Miss KiKi, I hope you stay strong, stay positive, stay peaceful, stay happy. We love you. We are praying for you."
McMillian said the children at the RJE Center were coping with trauma after the fatal shooting outside their summer camp building.
She said the children ran to her for help Tuesday afternoon when they saw a gray car being followed by deputies come toward the gym at their summer camp.
"All of a sudden, the door swung open and the kids started running in here with the food spread out," McMillian recounted. "I was closer to the door, so I ran over to ask what was going on, so I could see what they were trying to explain to me about the police."
The children were one building away from where the chase ended.
"I said, 'Get on the floor everybody. Get on the floor.' We all got on the floor, stayed on the floor until we no longer heard the shooting," McMillian said. "(I heard) 'Pop pop pop pop pop pop.' I knew it was shooting."
Then came silence.
"I said, 'Before we go any further, we are going to pray.' And we prayed," McMillian said. "Then, after we prayed, we served them their food. They were still emotional about it."
Though the crime scene tape and investigators were gone the next day, the summer camp director said the children who were there during the shooting are forever changed.
Pursuit leads to deputy-involved shooting
The sheriff said the chase Tuesday afternoon stemmed from an investigation that began Monday night when shots were fired into an unoccupied car and an occupied home on Southeast 137th Terrace. The home was shot up again just after noon Tuesday. No one was hit either time.
Witnesses reported that the gunfire from a rifle and a handgun came from a gray Mercury Marquis. Smith said Sgt. Russell Gordon and a deputy-in-training were responding to the second incident of shots fired when they spotted that vehicle and a short chase ensued.
Deputy Jeffrey Smith, along with Starke Police Department units, joined the pursuit, which eventually ended at the RJE Center on Pine Street, about 3 miles away from the home that was shot up.
UNCUT: Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith on deputy-involved shooting
According to the sheriff, that's when one of three men inside the car got out with an AK-47-style assault weapon in hand, and Gordon and Jeffrey Smith fired their agency-issued Glock 22 firearms, hitting the man, who was identified as Rogers.
Rogers was taken to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, where he died.
The man who deputies said was driving the car they were pursuing, Jaylon Tyson Hankerson, was arrested on a second-degree felony charge of fleeing and attempting to elude.
Hankerson, 19, was booked into the Bradford County jail, where he was ordered held on $75,000 bond.
WATCH: Hankerson's first appearance
On Wednesday afternoon, deputies said they had identified the third man who ran from the car after it got stuck as Deontay Anqawn Risby.
Risby, 21, was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violation of probation, which deputies said stemmed from previous arrests on felony charges that included robbery and burglary. He was booked into the Bradford County jail.
The sheriff vowed his agency will "get to the bottom of it," and "leave no stone unturned,” as it works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is handling the investigation.
There is dashboard camera video of the pursuit and body camera video of the confrontation. Smith said he wants the footage to be released, but the timing of that will be up to the FDLE.
No deputies were injured. Both Gordon, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, and Jeffrey Smith, a one-year veteran of the agency, were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.