9 p.m. UPDATE: The Sheriff’s Office has now stated this has become an officer-involved shooting. A briefing will be forthcoming. It becomes the ninth police shooting in Jacksonville this year and second this week.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sent out the following alert about an armed, barricaded man behind the Walmart at San Pablo Road and Atlantic Boulevard.
“There is no danger or threat to the public; however, the large police presence is impacting traffic,” the Sheriff’s Office said in its 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, advisory. “At this time, only police and emergency vehicles are allowed near the intersection. Please take an alternate route and be patient with other drivers on the road.
“The active scene is near Alimacani Elementary School. To reiterate, no students or staff members are in danger,” the alert continued. “The school has already shared details with families on how to pick up their students using Beach Boulevard to access the campus.”
Some shoppers also were being kept inside the nearby stores for their safety, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“We will share more details here as the incident continues and when the intersection reopens,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “We have significant resources working this situation to bring it to a peaceful ending.”
What was the update in the Walmart standoff?
Sheriff T.K. Waters said it started with a call from family members about 11:30 a.m. about a man in a truck possibly armed and suicidal. 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,” Waters said. “… Unfortunately he came out with a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other and left them with no choice.”
He was shot but not killed. The Sheriff’s Office identified him as 37-year-old Samuel Waters Jr..
Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said officers had blocked his vehicle in and were able to get a phone inside his vehicle 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. 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,” Waters said.
(This story has been updated with new details.)
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JSO update: Walmart incident now a police shooting
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
