LEESBURG -- Police officers were attempting to stop Carlos D. Oquendo this week for speeding when he turned onto a dead-end street near Venetian Gardens, shifted his car in reverse and floored the gas pedal -- heading straight toward an officer, a police spokesman said.
Officer James Dunagan, who had exited his patrol car, repeatedly ordered the 23-year-old Oquendo to pull over his blue Toyota on Lucerne Circle shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, police Capt. Rob Hicks said. He said Dunagan opened fired at the car that raced toward him, hit a tree and then sideswiped the patrol car of Officer Gustavo Escalante, who already had exited his the car in case of a foot pursuit.
Dunagan, who has been with the department since 1996, shot Oquendo "at least once," Hicks said. But it remains unclear how many rounds were fired, he said.
"Immediately after the shooting officers began to render medical aid to the suspect...," Hicks said in a statement.
Oquendo, who lived in Leesburg and recently had been convicted in Lake County for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center. He died at ORMC a short time later, according to authorities.
Hicks said Oquendo had been trying to evade police and committed multiple traffic violations as he turned onto Euclid Avenue and then Lucerne, a small gravel road north of West Dixie Avenue.
The investigation into the shooting is being handled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as part of protocol in such incidents. Dunagan, who was taken to Leesburg Regional Medical Center for a medical checkup and then released, was put on administrative leave for three days, also part of protocol, Hicks added.
Leesburg resident Tijuana Hurst was at her kitchen sink when she heard the gunfire from across the street.
"I heard boom, boom, boom," said Hurst, 40, the mother of an 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. "I just stood in one place. I didn't know what to do."
Copyright 2013 - Orlando Sentinel
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
