ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – Law enforcement shot an armed man after responding to a home on Christmas morning, Altamonte Springs police said.
Officers responded to a call on the 700 block of Florida Boulevard around 10:43 a.m. Wednesday.
A woman had reported concerning behavior from her husband, Stephen Scherer, the previous night and requested police assistance to retrieve Christmas gifts from the home.
The family did not initially believe Scherer was inside the residence. However, officers found that he had locked himself in a bedroom. They asked the family to leave the house and began negotiating with Scherer, urging him to come out. During the standoff, Scherer broke through a window holding a handgun and approached family members outside.
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Officers shouted for Scherer to drop his weapon and in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, an officer showed a taser. According to police, despite their efforts, Scherer ignored the commands and turned toward his wife, raising the firearm. In response, an officer and a deputy from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, who was assisting, fired their weapons.
Scherer received immediate medical attention from officers and was transported to a local hospital for his injuries. He is now facing a charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
Nabil Ghobrini, who is visiting Florida from Canada, heard the commotion.
“Well, I was in the living room. I was watching TV, and I heard the gunshots, and I was wondering if it was, fireworks or something else, but then I heard the sirens, so I was thinking maybe something bad happened in the neighborhood, and a few hours later when I looked it up, it was actually something bad that happened in the neighborhood,” he told News 6.
“To be honest, I was thinking about maybe checking out of the Airbnb that I rented and maybe moving to a safer area. But then when I checked with the host, he told me that it was actually a safe neighborhood and something like that’s not really common in this type of neighborhood.”
The Altamonte Springs Police Department has requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the incident. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such cases.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact the Altamonte Springs Police Department at 407-339-2441 or 911. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
If you need help getting out of an abusive situation, or getting someone you care about out of an abusive situation, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text “START” to 88788.
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