Update: Man Shot Himself Before Deputy Fired
On Friday evening a deputy involved shooting took place in a Brandon Walmart parking lot. According to ABC News, authorities are now saying that man shot and killed himself before the deputy fired at him.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said 28-year-old Paul Mebane “shot himself an instant before the deputy fired.” The medical examiner’s office determined this on Saturday after collecting preliminary results.
The original story:
Deputy Shoots Man In Brandon Walmart Parking Lot
Late Friday a Hillsborough County deputy shot and injured a man that had been reported as suicidal.
The man was sitting in his car in a Brandon Walmart parking lot with three young children. The man’s condition and identity were not known and the three children were taken into custody by Child Protection Services.
Cabot Brown, the deputy, has been with the Sheriff’s Office for two years and was placed on administrative leave.
Brown was one of the Sheriff’s Office deputies responding to a call for help from Tampa Police at 9:15 p.m. to find a missing man who was believed to be suicidal. Col. Donna Luscynski told the Tampa Bay Times that the original call was assumed to be made by a family member.
Deputies believed the man was in the area of Walmart on S. Gornto Lake Road and Causeway Boulevard. After 30 minutes the man’s car was located near the back of the parking lot.
As deputies approached the car from the rear they saw the man with a firearm in his hand. The man began to raise the firearm as he noticed deputies approaching.
“They gave commands for him to drop the weapon to which he did not,” Luscynski told the Times. “At that point deputies felt in fear for their life and fired rounds at the subject.”
Lusczynski said at least one round was fired and said Brown was the only deputy who fired into the car. She was not certain whether deputies knew there were three children, ages 4 to 10, in the car at the time.
None of the children were physically injured.
A loaded weapon was recovered at the scene by deputies.
This is a developing story, be sure to check back for updates as News Talk Florida continues to follow this incident.