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Gunman killed by officer in Florida home invasion

27-year veteran officer on administrative leave after shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who police said was holding a shotgun in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other was shot and killed Thursday morning by a veteran Jacksonville police officer, Undersheriff Pat Ivey said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said a man in his late 20s or early 30s fired into a home on Shims Road, just north of New Berlin Road, just before 7 a.m. He pushed his way inside, where evidence and witnesses indicated that he threatened to kill a man and a woman, but his gun misfired several times, giving the residents a chance to call police.

Arriving Officer Howard Smith, a 27-year veteran of the JSO, encountered the man outside, headed to a second residence on the property, where a relative of the other victims lived. When the man refused the officer's orders to drop the shotgun and appeared to raise it instead, Smith fired. The gunman died at the scene.

“Per witnesses, the subject made statements to the effect of he was not going to drop the firearm," Ivey said. “On the last particular time after being told several times, he raised it quite high in pointing it at the officer, and the officer discharged his weapon twice.”

Ivey could not provide the gunman's name, but said if it's the person they believe it to be, he has a long criminal history.

“The individual has some type of history with the individuals that live here, possibly some type of relationship involving a female that is related to individuals that reside at the house where this occurred," Ivey said.

This was Smith's first officer-involved shooting. He is on administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

A woman who lives across the street told News4Jax that the woman who lives in the house is a mother and that she's glad she wasn't hurt. She didn't want to say anything about the man who was killed.

This was the ninth shooting by a Jacksonville officer this year, and the third person killed by an officer's gunfire. 


About the Authors
Ashley Harding headshot

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She anchors News4Jax at 5:30 and 6:30 and covers Jacksonville city hall.

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