COCOA, Fla. – Investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) are investigating a police-involved shooting that left a 48–year-old man dead in Cocoa.
According to the Cocoa Police Department, the man was involved in leaving the scene of an accident where a 39-year-old female was ejected from his vehicle causing him to run her over.
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Officials said patrol officers responded to the 2700 block of US1 around 1 a.m. Saturday after receiving reports that a woman had been run over by a vehicle.
“The witnesses reported the suspect driver of the jeep hit a curb in the median and the passenger was ejected,” officials said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the female victim in the roadway, investigators said.
According to witnesses, the man had been driving recklessly for several miles.
“She was able to briefly communicate with officers before becoming unresponsive,” Cocoa officials said.
The woman was airlifted to a hospital in critical but stable condition, officers said.
Officers on the scene observed the Jeep fleeing the scene while other officers responding to the area attempted to stop the man in the Jeep, but he hesitated and then chose to flee from officers.
“Officers attempted a high-risk traffic stop, at which time the suspect put the vehicle in reverse, and disregarding the officer’s commands, began aggressively backing the vehicle toward the officers,” the Cocoa Police Department said.
According to a news release, the man struck the side of one patrol vehicle while simultaneously pushing the other patrol car through a fence and down an embankment into a lake.
“The officer fired several rounds at the suspect. The suspect was wounded and was flown to the hospital for medical care where doctors later pronounced him deceased,” Cocoa police added.
The officer involved was not injured and the FDLE responded to the scene to conduct an investigation.
The identity of the driver has not been released as officers wait until next of kin is notified.
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