A Florida Highway Patrol officer was forced to shoot after a driver refused to pull over during a routine traffic stop, ultimately causing a fatal car crash.
Around 11 a.m., a surveillance camera from a nearby gas station, located along 167th Street and 37th Avenue, captured the trooper pulling up to a maroon Nissan vehicle trying to conduct a routine traffic stop. Suddenly, the car took off with the trooper clinging to the hood of the car. That officer fell off soon after, and the moment the car fled the scene, the trooper fired his weapon.
“The trooper fired into the vehicle, fearing for his life, and the vehicle fled northbound on Northwest 37th Avenue,” said FHP Trooper Joe Sanchez.
The driver continued to head northbound with at least one bullet wound before crashing head-on into an SUV at Northwest 157th Street and 37th Avenue, where he was pronounced dead upon impact.
A witness said he could see the driver was shot. “There was a young man lying on the floor, just outside the car,” a witness said. “Visible bullet holes was in his hands, and there’s one in his chest.”
Two other people suffered serious injuries. 7’s Skyforce HD was over the scene as a passenger from the Nissan vehicle was placed on a stretcher before she was rushed to the hospital. The SUV’s driver from the head-on collision was also transported. Both are said to be recovering.
The collision occurred close to single-family homes, one of which belonged to a couple who were out shopping at the time of the crash. When the couple returned home, they found a broken gate and a busted gate door.
Jose Placa showed 7News a look of his damaged property. “Somebody called me, said something happened to your house,” he said.
The suspect’s car and police’s motorcycle were towed eight hours after the collision.
Earlier reports stated that the FHP trooper had been shot at. However, the trooper is said to be OK and on administrative leave.
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