An eight-hour standoff outside the San Pablo Road Walmart blocking traffic at the intersection ended with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s ninth shooting of the year and second in two days. Some shoppers and employees also were being kept inside for their safety.
The Sheriff’s Office has not provided an update on the suspect’s condition but identified him as Samuel Wayne Waters Jr.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said it started with a call from family members about 11:30 a.m. May 6 about a 37-year-old in a truck possibly armed and suicidal behind the store. Hours of negotiations led to SWAT officers using gas to try to get the man out.
“They were trying to communicate with him the whole time,” the sheriff said. “… Unfortunately he came out with a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other and left them with no choice.”
Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said officers had blocked his vehicle in and were able to get a phone inside about 3:15 p.m. and spoke with him for several hours.
“At some times he was talking normal, and other times he was threatening to harm himself and other people,” Coarsey said. But he still would not come out.
At about 7:20 p.m. the SWAT team used an armored vehicle to break a window and fired gas canisters inside to force him out.
“The subject then began to exact that vehicle,” Coarsey said. “He was holding a large knife in his left hand and a pistol in his right hand trying to climb out of the rear window. They ordered him to drop the firearm, he refused, so they shot several times striking him.”
On May 4 the family had gone to authorities stating he had mental health issues and had firearms available to him. They were able to get arrest warrants for trespassing, aggravated assault and domestic violence against his father. The family located him at the Walmart and called police.
The officers were J. Vickers, M. White, B. Nauss, J. Price, T. Hensley and J. Ingham.
“We wanted to get him out safely. Unfortunately he introduced a knife and he introduced firearm into the equation, which completely changes it,” Sheriff Waters said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Standoff outside Jacksonville Walmart ends with officers shooting man
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
