OCALA, Fla. – A man accused of robbing an Ocala convenience store Friday was in critical condition after he shot himself as deputies surrounded him and tried to take him into custody, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said they were called to a convenience store at the intersection of Southwest Highway 200 and Southwest 80th Street for an armed robbery.
When detectives arrived at the store, they saw a masked man with a gun, later identified as Rodney Snow, 33, walk out and get into the passenger side of car that had been waiting outside, Marion County deputies said.
The driver of the vehicle, Christina Gaud, 30, fled from deputies before she crashed near the 7900 block of Southwest 80th Street, deputies said.
Snow then got out of the car and ran toward a wooded area outside the Indigo East neighborhood, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies said detectives surrounded Snow in the wooded area and he shot himself.
Snow was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit. Deputies did not say whether he would face charges once he is released.
Authorities said Gaud had her 10-year-old child in the car during the incident. The Florida Department of Children and Families was notified.
Gaud was arrested and charged with principal to an armed robbery and felony child neglect, deputies said. She was being held at the Marion County Jail without bond.