EUSTIS, Fla. -- A gunman who climbed onto a downtown building rooftop Monday vowing to kill himself rather than go to jail as deputies attempted to arrest him shot himself after the Lake County sheriff's SWAT team used a flash device in hopes of distracting him, authorities said.
The 27-year-old man, whose name deputies have not released, was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center after a standoff that started around noon and lasted more than three hours. His condition wasn't immediately known.
"Unfortunately, it had to end this way," sheriff's Lt. John Herrell said.
Several city blocks were closed to traffic after the man deputies were trying to apprehend climbed out his apartment window and onto the roof of the building at 1005 S. Bay St.
Two deputies had gone to the second-floor apartment to serve felony violation-of-probation warrants stemming from domestic-violence and drug-related charges. Herrell said crisis negotiators "talked to him repeatedly. But he refused to surrender."
Seconds before pulling the trigger, the man could be seen sitting on the rooftop with his knees pressed against his chest, holding the gun to his head. The SWAT team sneaked up on him from the front of the building.
Several witnesses saw the shirtless man earlier waving around a gun and yelling he was going to kill himself because he did not want to go back to jail.
Tanya Miller, who lives a few blocks away, was driving by when she saw the man climb to the roof. She said officers responded quickly to the scene.
She moved across the street where she stood with a group of people and watched as the SWAT team surrounded and entered the building to attempt to get the man to surrender. One witness prayed loudly as the man paced around the roof, asking that the man turn himself in. Another witness shouted "put the gun down."
"They were trying to save him," Miller said after the shooting. "It's just sad."
Copyright 2013 - Orlando Sentinel
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
