Law enforcement officers fatally shoot homicide suspect on I-95 after he points gun at them

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3 days ago

ST. LUCIE COUNTY − A man suspected in a homicide in Palm Beach County was fatally shot Aug. 12 by law enforcement officials in St. Lucie County on Interstate 95 after he was accused of pointing a handgun at investigators, officials said.
The shooting happened about 1:13 a.m. just south of Orange Avenue after the accused gunman exited a vehicle that officials said was occupied by 'a suspect in a homicide that occurred earlier in the evening in Palm Beach County and was considered armed and dangerous.'
Florida Highway Patrol officials had stopped the vehicle about 11:15 p.m. Aug. 11 using a special maneuver designed to force a vehicle to stop.
The identity of the person who died in the incident that caused a closure of about a 5-mile stretch of I-95 in St. Lucie County for hours was not immediately available.
In a late morning briefing, FHP Chief Matthew Williams, regional commander for the agency, said about 10:42 p.m. his agency got a 'be on the lookout' alert for a black Honda CRV driven by a person suspected in a homicide earlier in the evening in the West Palm Beach area.
Williams said that about 11:03 p.m. the vehicle was found traveling north just south of Gatlin Boulevard in the Port St. Lucie area.
Sheriff's officials in Martin County also played a role, a spokesperson with that agency said.
'A short time later, through a coordinated effort with the St. Lucie and Martin County sheriff's offices, our FHP trooper and deputies attempted to stop the vehicle.' Williams said. 'The driver of that vehicle made the decision not to stop and attempted to flee.'
After a trooper used a special driving technique used to get another vehicle to stop quickly, troopers saw the man with a firearm.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said the stop happened just south of Orange Avenue.
'The suspect exited the vehicle at that time with a gun pointed at his head, and that remained pretty much constant throughout the incident for the next couple of hours,' Del Toro said.
He said a Martin sheriff's helicopter 'captured the incident and provided us the necessary intelligence throughout the incident.'
St. Lucie sheriff's crisis negotiators began negotiating with the man.
'He was intermittently communicating with us throughout via phone and also just verbally,' Del Toro said. 'Our negotiators were trying to speak to him, trying to de-escalate the situation, but he repeatedly exited and re-entered the vehicle again with that gun placed at his head.'
About 1:13 a.m. he got out of the vehicle and advanced toward deputies with a handgun, Del Toro said. SWAT officials used less lethal munitions that Del Toro described as a 40 mm rubber impact weapon, striking the man a number of times.
'Unfortunately, this did not stop him,' Del Toro said. 'He did drop the gun but immediately picked it back up and pointed it at our deputies, at which time they really had no other choice but to engage the suspect.'
Del Toro said four deputies fired their weapons, while Williams said three troopers fired theirs. Two troopers used rifles, and one a handgun.
The encounter happened after a homicide in suburban West Palm Beach at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 11, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office identified the homicide victim as Liliana Calderon Ramirez, 58. She was found suffering from an apparent gunshot wound at a home about 2 miles southwest of Palm Beach International Airport, according to a statement from the agency. She died at a hospital.
Investigators reported that the shooter entered the home, on the 500 block of Glenwood Drive, through a sliding door in the back of the house. The shooter confronted the woman and fired multiple rounds before leaving in a black SUV.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office are investigating the incident in St. Lucie County. Del Toro said it ultimately will be brought before a grand jury, which is standard.
'I can't tell you how proud I am to see these deputies, these troopers perform the way they did under such tough situations,' Del Toro said.
Asked whether the man fired at law enforcement officials, Del Toro said he preferred FDLE answer that.
'There's a lot of footage that needs to be reviewed from body-worn cameras,' Del Toro said. 'They have to obviously interview the deputies themselves.'
Del Toro said officials worked to de-escalate the situation with negotiators and then used less lethal munitions.
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'He escalated to the point by not surrendering, not putting down the weapon,' Del Toro said.
A St. Lucie County multi-agency command center bus was parked at 9:15 a.m. in the northbound lanes of I-95 just south of Orange Avenue as a host of other apparent law enforcement vehicles were in front and back.
Two tow trucks were at the scene and one was hauling out a crashed vehicle. Yellow crime scene tape stretched across the northbound lanes of I-95.
(This story was updated with more information, video and photos.)
Palm Beach Post staff writer Maya Washburn contributed to this story.
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: All lanes of I-95 open in St. Lucie County as shooting investigated