DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With a manhunt still underway, the Daytona Beach Police Department released video Wednesday showing the moment an officer was shot in the head.
The officer, Jason Raynor, was responding to a suspicious incident on Kingston Avenue at about 8:50 p.m. when the shooting occurred.
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The video shows him approaching 29-year-old Othal Wallace, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of a gray 2016 Honda HR-V, and asking him whether he lived in the area.
Wallace immediately got out of the vehicle and asked the officer, “What’s going on?” according to the video.
“Sit down. Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit,” Raynor told Wallace while putting his hand on Wallace’s shoulder.
Wallace remained standing and questioned why the officer approached him, the video shows.
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“Come on, now, come on, now. Don’t do this,” Wallace said as Raynor tried to get him to sit back down, according to the recording.
The video then shows Wallace pushing the officer with his forearm and a struggle ensues. A single gunshot can be heard at about 26 seconds into the struggle, and then Raynor falls to the ground.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said the officer was rushed to Halifax Health, where he underwent surgery.
News 6 was initially not showing any pictures of Raynor at his family’s request but we have since received permission from his sister to use one photo.
“This entire county is on lockdown until we track this coward down. So I’m grateful for every agency that’s responded over here tonight to help us as they’re committed to staying out here until we get this coward in custody,” Young said.
During an update Thursday morning, Young said the lockdown lasted about three hours and that the county is no longer “necessarily under a lockdown.”
He estimated about 500 officers from multiple agencies are searching for Wallace. As of 4:30 a.m. Thursday, the manhunt was ongoing.
Wallace is believed to be in a gray 2016 Honda HR-V bearing California license plate number 7TNX532, records show. He’s considered armed and dangerous so anyone who sees him should call 911 immediately.
A $200,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to his arrest. Anyone with information is asked to the department’s Emergency Operations Center at 386-671-5555.
Check back for more updates on this developing story.
News 6 examined policing practices in Central Florida and those who are pushing for reform with the goal of reducing violent encounters as part of the pilot episode of our news digital newscast, Solutionaries.
The episode included Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young’s thoughts on implicit bias, de-escalation techniques and more. You can hear his take and watch the episode in its entirety here.