VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The Volusia County sergeant involved in a June shootout with two foster children who are accused of firing at law enforcement shared what happened during the incident during a news briefing Friday.
In June, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports about a girl and boy who ran away from Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, a foster home. According to the sheriff’s office, a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl broke into a home in Volusia County and used guns found inside — including an AK-47 — to fire at deputies for about 30 minutes. Deputies said the children also used baseball bats to destroy furniture, toilets and a tub.
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Sgt. Donnie Maxwell, who hid behind a tree as he was fired at, said the shootout “seemed like forever” and at one point, he became concerned when the children positioned themselves inside the house.
“They positioned themselves by a bedroom door and from my tactical experience, I was amazed the young lady took the position at the door with a shotgun and it was to the point it looked like she was waiting for our deputies to come in,” he said.
Shortly after the shootout, the sheriff’s office released body camera video that showed Maxwell hiding behind a tree as the two fired at him with a pistol, shotgun and an AK-47. The video includes aerial footage of the moment deputies shot a 14-year-old girl as she reportedly walked out of the garage of a home on Enterprise Osteen Road with a shotgun in her hand, leveling it at deputies.
This is the tree that provided cover for our deputy who came under fire from two children yesterday. The best tree in Volusia County as far as I'm concerned pic.twitter.com/s2nfphNvVV
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) June 2, 2021
The nine-minute video starts with Maxwell using a tree as cover as he looks toward the pool deck area of the home. A loud bang is heard then immediately someone on the radio says, “Shots fired.” At one point during the video, Maxwell says, “10-4, they’re shooting at me. Hold it, hold the air.”
The sergeant said he saw the girl with a shotgun wrapped around her shoulder as she was coming out of the garage before gunfire was exchanged. When the girl was shot, Maxwell said he “immediately changed” to render first aid with other deputies. The 12-year-old boy was not injured in the shootout, and no deputies were struck by bullets, officials said.
“I could see the wounds and I knew at that point in time, based on what I’ve seen previously and experienced in my career, that we needed to get her out of there quick,” he said.
Maxwell said this was not the first time he was shot at as a law enforcement officer, but he said it was different.
“It’s hard to even comprehend that juveniles would be doing this,” he said. “... For these children to be able to take the tactical stance that they did and the movements they made blew my mind.”
After the shootout, Sheriff Mike Chitwood spoke out about the failures of the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Families, saying the shooting could have been prevented if state agencies tasked with taking care of troubled children had done more. Maxwell reiterated those beliefs and said he gives “equal blame” to the Department of Juvenile Justice and the foster home the children ran away from.
Earlier this week, an apology letter the girl wrote to deputies was released by the state attorney’s office.
“It’s written like a, when you read it, it’s written like a little girl would write a letter, which really hammers home everything that the sergeant said that I cannot believe that we’re taking fire from a little girl, from a middle school student. I can’t, I can’t believe it,” he said.
The children both face attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, burglary of a dwelling while armed with a firearm and felony criminal mischief charges.
The deputies were cleared last month by the 7th District State Attorney’s Office after reviewing reports and witness statements.