CLEARWATER, Fla. – A sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man who authorities say forced his way into the home of a former girlfriend early Tuesday and pointed a gun at a man in the house.
Clearwater police Chief Daniel Slaughter said during news conference that Pinellas County sheriff's deputies who arrived at the home negotiated for more than an hour with Josue Arias, 32, before he walked out of the house holding the gun. Slaughter said he appeared to be trying to find the deputies.
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Four deputies fired at Arias, killing him.
“The deputies fired in response to his reckless nature of coming out and looking for, basically, a firefight,” Slaughter said.
His ex-girlfriend called 911 about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday and told dispatchers that Arias was at her door and armed, the chief said. The woman and the man in the home went to separate rooms as Arias forced his way inside and the woman armed herself with a handgun, the chief said.
The sheriff's deputies used a vehicle to provide cover as they tried to talk to Arias through a loudspeaker. They also evacuated homes nearby.
Eventually, the woman got out of the house and was taken to safety. The deputies continued negotiating with Arias. They learned that the woman had left her cellphone inside, still connected to 911, and their commands were making Arias more agitated.
He came to the door holding a gun to the head of the man who was inside the home, Slaughter said.
The chief said that when deputies heard Arias saying he didn't want to return to prison, they were concerned that there would not be a peaceful outcome.
He finally stepped out into the patio, and then went into the yard as he apparently tried to search for the deputies, the chief said. That's when they opened fire.
The man who had been inside the home was not injured. Authorities did not provide the names of the woman or the man.
Arias had been released from state prison in 2016 after serving nearly five years for burglary of an occupied dwelling or conveyance and a drug charge, according to records.
Next-door neighbor Matt Gurevitz, 30, told the Tampa Bay Times that deputies tried for some time to end the standoff, repeating about 20 times, “Sir, please come out of the house.”
“It sounded like the police were trying to be peaceful,” Gurevitz said. “And then, I don’t know why, they opened fire.”
The Clearwater Police Department is investigating the case through the county's Use of Deadly Force Task Force, which was established last year to keep law enforcement agencies from investigating cases in which one of their own officers or deputies kills someone.