DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two Daytona Beach police officers shot a man who they say tried to carjack a woman at a Popeyes before pointing a rifle on them at a nearby Wawa, according to Police Chief Craig Capri.
The shooting was reported around 8:10 a.m. Monday near International Speedway Boulevard and U.S. 1.
Capri said the woman was at Popeyes waiting for the restaurant to open when the man tried to carjack her. She was able to get away and call for help, police said.
The man then walked down Ridgewood Avenue carrying the rifle, and officers confronted him near a Walgreens and Wawa, Carpi said.
The officers asked the man to drop the rifle, but he pointed it at them, according to Capri, who added that his officers opened fire, striking the man.
The Daytona Beach Police Department released several videos of body-worn camera footage of the shooting Monday afternoon.
The video shows the first officer get out of his patrol car and tell the man, “hey, don’t raise it.”
The officer then proceeded to take cover behind the rear passenger side of his patrol car, according to the video, and continued to tell the man to “put it down, put the rifle down.”
Approximately 24 seconds into the encounter, gunfire is heard in the video, followed by more shots. The officer fired several rounds, according to his body camera video.
The video shows, the man, with a long-gun style weapon, fall to the ground in the WaWa parking lot.
Due to the violent content, News 6 is not posting the full body camera video on ClickOrlando.com.
Another video released by DBPD is from the second officer on scene who approached the WaWa parking lot just as the first shots were fired. That video shows the armed man walking toward the first officer with the rifle up right.
“When you point a gun at officers, expect to get shot,” Capri said.
The video shows the second officer also fired at the suspect, as the man walked toward the first officer.
Capri said in total two officers fired six rounds but they are still investigating to determine if the suspect fired his weapon.
Capri said the gunman was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery. The gunman, whose name has not been released, is expected to make a full recovery, Capri said.
The officers and the woman were not injured.
Capri said his officers never want to be involved in shootings.
“He dictated this,” Capri said. “I’m just thankful (the officers) can go home alive to their families.”
Chief Capri w/ @DaytonaBchPD says suspect first attempted to carjack a female worker at Popeyes on S. Ridgewood Ave this morning. He was seen walking around with a riffle. Chief says suspect pulled riffle in front of officers at Wawa on ISB. He’s at the hospital now @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/hhEl3T97Dk
— Ezzy Castro (@EzzyCastro) May 25, 2020
Both officers who fired their department-issued weapons have been put on paid administrative leave, as is the standard procedure as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement further investigates the incident.
The department later identified the officers as Rich Jung, who has been with the department since 2010. He was the first officer on scene and first to fire his weaspon.
The second officer on scene was Sgt. Christie Gernert. He has been with the department since 1994.
“I’m very proud of my officers, the way they acted today. They were very professional. They did their jobs,” Capri said. “It’s unfortunate that someone had to be shot in this incident, but we didn’t start this. The suspect escalated this incident. We tried to deescalate.”