(This story has been updated with new information)
WEST PALM BEACH — A 22-year-old man fired at least 10 shots as he approached a police officer in the driveway of a West Palm Beach home during the early morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 7, authorities said in arresting him on attempted murder charges.
Police took Emmanuel McRae into custody shortly after 11 p.m. the same day after he surrendered to authorities. His arrest came hours after police disclosed his name to the public and urged him to turn himself in.
Police wanted McRae into connection to an exchange of gunfire at about 2 a.m. that wounded one police officer. McRae is facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law-enforcement officer, as two officers reponded to the house on Baker Drive.
During a court hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Palm Beach County Jail, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele ordered that McRae be held without bail and assigned him a public defender. As a matter of policy, the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.
According to a police report, the situation unfolded on the 300 block of Baker Drive, off Congress Avenue near Interstate 95, after a woman called 911 to report a disturbance between two men inside a home and to request assistance. The caller reported that one person in the home was armed with a firearm.
Two officers arrived in marked vehicles. One officer retrieved his department-issued rifle, approached the property line and announced his presence loudly. Immediately afterward, a man later identified as McRae rapidly fired at least 10 shots at the officer with a handgun, according to the arrest report. The officer returned fire as he retreated to a safer location.
The second officer also returned fire using his department-issued 9 mm handgun. The city’s ShotSpotter system recorded one volley of 11 shots, followed by a second volley of 11 shots.
During a news conference at police headquarters, Chief Tony Araujo told reporters that one round struck one of the officers in his ballistic vest during the exchange of gunfire.
The injured officer received care at Good Samaritan Medical Center and was released. McRae’s arrest report indicates that the officer sustained a gunshot to the lower right side of his ballistic vest, causing bruising and bleeding. A statement released by the police department said the officer’s vest has been examined and the round recovered has been submitted to a crime laboratory for a detailed analysis to determine its origin.
According to the report, witnesses described the events that occurred before the officer-involved shooting. One told investigators he got into a fight with McRae and demanded that McRae collect his belongings, including firearms, and leave the residence.
Another man told investigators he observed the fight and took a firearm that was near McRae and hid it. He described seeing McRae exit the home and begin shooting in the direction of the police officers.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Police report: Man, 22, fired at least 10 shots at West Palm Beach police officer
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
