St. Petersburg Police Department issued the following announcement on Mar. 12.
Deputy Involved Shooting
Tonight , Chief of St. Petersburg Police Anthony Holloway, held a press conference to address a shooting involving a Pinellas Deputy. It is being investigated by the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Taskforce.
Here is the preliminary information.
At 6:52 p.m., Pinellas Sheriff’s deputies responded to a vehicle burglary in the 6300 block of 60th Avenue North, unincorporated Pinellas Park.
A K9 handler spotted the suspect near a church at 6300 62Avenue North. The handler and his dog , and a Sgt. backing them up, tracked the suspect south into a fenced backyard.
The suspect was waiting for them and fired several shots, striking the K9 handler. The Sgt. fired back and struck the suspect. The suspect, an adult male, died at the scene.
The K9 Deputy is hospitalized in stable condition. His dog was not injured.
The Sgt. was not hurt. He is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
A photo of the suspect’s handgun is attached.Names will be released tomorrow.
In 2020, the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Taskforce wascreated to ensure the investigations conducted into law enforcement use ofdeadly force are thorough, complete, and objective. The purpose of thistaskforce is to make sure that officer-involved shootings in Pinellas Countyare investigated by an independent agency and not by the agency involved inthe use of deadly force.
Original source can be found here
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