Jacksonville police shot and killed a man they said fought an officer during an arrest and had a gun. It was the Sheriff’s Office’s 17th shooting with two days left in the year.
It began about 6:30 p.m. Dec. 29 with a task force doing surveillance at a home on Ponce Boulevard near New Berlin Road for a suspect, William Lowe, who had warrants for a stolen car and several business burglaries. He could be seen peeking outside and after about an hour got into a vehicle that arrived, Chief Alan Parker said.
As Lowe and the driver pulled out of the driveway, the officers stopped the car and took Lowe into custody. But the driver did not comply and wouldn’t turn the car off when another officer tried to detain him, Parker said.
“As he’s getting him out of the car, that suspect begins to fight,” the chief said. “They fight pretty hard, they go to the ground, and during the altercation that suspect produces a handgun, and the officer was luckily able to shoot him in the head himself with his own handgun and end the threat at that time. That suspect did not survive his injury.”
He said the officer could be heard on video yelling, “Gun, gun, he’s got a gun.”
The Sheriff’s Office later identified the driver as 46-year-old Alan Michael Rush. Investigators also found narcotics in his vehicle, including 70 grams crack cocaine, 15 grams powder cocaine, 133 grams methamphetamine, 19 grams of cannabis and some pills and unknown powder. Court records show Rush’s wife recently filed for divorce.
The officer who fired the shot was Zachary Jennings, according to the Sheriff’s Office. It was his first police shooting in his eight years with the agency.
Of the 17 suspects shot by Jacksonville police this year, 11 died. It’s the most since 2008 when officers shot 28 suspects, 14 fatally, according to Times-Union records.
(This story has been updated with a new photo and the ID of the suspect killed.)
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville officer shoots gunman in the head, 17th police shooting
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
