JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said an officer shot a Central Florida robbery suspect outside a gas station near the Duval-Clay county border after the suspect pointed a gun at the officer.
The shooting happened Wednesday evening at a Circle K gas station near Blanding Boulevard and Argyle Forest Boulevard.
Recommended Videos
JSO said the suspect, Brenton Paquin, 37, was transported to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was shot at least once in the chest. The officer involved was not hurt, JSO said.
JSO said the incident started around 6:30 p.m.
Chief Alan Parker said an officer noticed a vehicle parked near the gas station that was reportedly used in two recent armed robberies in Lake County, just outside Orlando.
When the officer looked inside the empty vehicle, Paquin walked up with a dog.
The officer asked Paquin if it was his vehicle, and he said it was.
JSO said the officer then asked Paquin to sit down, but he ignored the officer and tried to push past him to get inside the vehicle.
“The officer grabbed a hold of him, the guy turned away and pulled harder. He got into the front of the vehicle, he turned around outside and he had a gun in his hand and he advanced on the officer. The officer pulled his weapon and fired a few times and struck the suspect, and he went down,” Parker said during a media briefing.
Paquin dropped the gun after he was shot, JSO said, and the officer kept him there until backup and paramedics arrived.
JSO said it later learned that Paquin is also a person of interest in a Vermont murder investigation.
Officer J. Collier, the officer who fired the shots, has been with JSO since 2015 and it was his first officer-involved shooting. It’s the fourth officer-involved shooting by JSO this year.
“We are very, very fortunate tonight,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said. “A police officer could have been killed and it wasn’t as simple as him pointing a gun at him. There was a lot more to it. That’s just a part of it and you guys are gonna see that very soon as soon as we can get that out to you. But don’t come to Jacksonville, don’t commit robberies in Jacksonville, don’t come to Jacksonville to commit robberies, because we’re going to take action, and we’re just happy that our police officer is OK because it could have been a very, very bad situation. But good training, an alert police officer who was doing what he should do.”
The State Attorney’s Office is now investigating.