STOCK ISLAND, FLORIDA KEYS, FL - According to an online news report provided by flkeysnews.com, the Monroe County Sheriff's Officer stated that the U.S. 1 police shooting incident was legal and justified. The news story broke on September 16, 2020, and was updated on September 17, 2020.
According to the news report, the police shooting in question occurred on July 18, 2020, in the Florida Keys. According to Rick Ramsay, the Monroe County Sheriff claims the shooting by law enforcement was justified because the man who was shot by different officers had fired on the police first. The 34-year-old shooting victim was shot numerous times. According to the report, the 34-year-old man from Stock Island barricading himself inside a mobile home. According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the 34-year-old Stock Island man would not surrender to police for over two hours on Wednesday.
At approximately 4:30 p.m., the man surrendered to law enforcement. The man eventually left the trailer home with his hands in the air above his head. The trailer was located at the Roy's Trailer Park. The suspect was arrested, transported to the Stock Island Detention Center, and was booked on criminal charges. The suspect has not posted bail as of this past Thursday.
The suspect was wanted on an arrest warrant that was dated August 22, 2020. The arrest warrant was due to charges involving an armed robbery that occurred at a trailer park located off of Maloney Avenue on Stock Island, Florida. According to a sheriff's office spokesman, the suspect was arrested, and the man was not armed at the time of his arrest. Monroe County Sheriff's Office Detective Boyd Williams attempted to serve the suspect's arrest warrant at around 2:30 in the afternoon. However, the suspect fled into a mobile home and then barricaded himself inside the trailer. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office learned that the suspect did not have a firearm in his possession. However, Monroe County Sheriff's Office detectives and deputies cordoned off the area they were working inside the park.
The Key West Police Department Crisis Negotiators and Monroe County Sheriff's Office were called to the standoff scene. Key West police also dispatched K9 Units to the scene. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team was also placed on alert. However, they did not enter the mobile home because the suspect exited the mobile home without incident and with his arms raised. The suspect was then taken into custody.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay stated, "I'm happy to report that no one was injured and this dangerous criminal has been taken off our streets,"
The criminal case against the suspect was initiated on August 22, 2020. The suspect's former girlfriend told police that the suspect robbed her.
The alleged robbery victim told officers that she surrendered her $650 Coach backpack to the robbers after the suspect threatened her with a large butcher's knife, and the suspect threatened the victim that he was going to kill her and her kids. Fortunately, the woman and her children were not harmed in the attack.