WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A Polk County sheriff’s deputy was involved in a shooting early Tuesday, but few details have been released.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said one person was shot by a deputy around 2 a.m. and taken to a hospital for treatment.
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Sheriff Grady Judd said the suspect, Neil Bourcy, 25, was one of two people who stole a car on Old Tampa Highway around 7:20 p.m. Monday night. Judd said they abandoned that vehicle, went into a mobile home community, tried to get two different people to give him the keys to their car, and cut one of the people. That person had to have emergency surgery, Judd said.
Judd said Bourcy finally managed to steal car on a nearby street, but at this point the sheriff’s office was looking for him. After a pursuit around the Lakeland area, Bourcy fled the vehicle and tried to hide from the deputies, but they managed to corner him. Judd said that’s when Bourcy said that he had a gun.
“Well, when you tell us you have a gun, we’re gonna take you at your word,” Judd said.
Bourcy then pulled something out of his jacket, which turned out to be a cell phone, but a deputy shot him seven times.
No deputies were injured.
Bourcy is in critical condition at Lakeland Regional Hospital, and is expected to survive, Judd said.
“Once again, this shows the danger that deputies face every day,” Judd said. “And it shows how our deputy did exactly what he should have done at that moment in time in order to protect himself.”
The other suspect in the first car theft has not yet been found.