10-03-2025
St. Petersburg police officer shoots, injures man
A St. Petersburg police officer shot and injured a man who aimed a gun at him and another officer early Saturday, deputies said.
The officers responded about 4 a.m. to reports of shots fired in the 2800 block of Freemont Terrace South and found a person they found a person matching the description of the shooter, later identified as Vernon A. Miller, 48, said David Danzig, chief deputy for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, during a news conference Saturday.
Miller, 48, was wearing all black and standing in the doorway of a parked van with a handgun in one hand and cell phone in the other, Danzig said. When officers Austin Heard, 24, and Steve Blanda, 37, told him to drop the gun. Miller mumbled, turned and pointed the firearm at the officers, Danzig said.
Heard fired two or three times, striking Miller in the abdomen.
Miller was taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital and was listed in critical condition Saturday, Danzig said.
Heard and Blanda were both uninjured.
Investigators recovered a bullet casing they believe was fired by Miller and spurred the 911 caller to report shots fired. Detectives searched Miller's van and believe he was transient and living in the vehicle.
The sheriff's office is conducting a routine investigation of the shooting as part of Pinellas County's Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force.
Danzig said Miller has been convicted of four prior felonies. Court records show he was charged with domestic aggravated assault, drug possession, trespassing and being a felon in possession of a firearm over a period spanning the last 30 years.
