A career criminal who ambushed two sheriff’s deputies in Brevard County, Florida, died of his injuries last month after one of the deputies shot him with a magazine’s worth of ammunition.
The incident was caught on a dash cam, and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey addressed what occurred in a now-viral video posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
“I’m extremely thankful that our deputies are safe, and the suspect is no longer on this planet where he could put someone else’s life in peril,” Ivey said. “This individual had absolutely no regard for human life and was focused on only one thing: killing our deputies to avoid arrest.”
“Let there be no doubt: this individual got exactly what he deserved. And to those foolish enough to ask why we shot him so many times, the answer is simple: because evil can never be dead enough,” Ivey concluded.
The suspect was riding in the back seat of a car where he was sitting with a two-month-old infant child and a dog. When asked to step out of the vehicle, he pulled out an AR-pistol and opened fire.
He was out on bond with active warrants for additional drug trafficking cases, and Ivey believes he opened fire to avoid arrest.
SEE ALSO: Graphic Video: Deputy Shoots Concealed Carrier Through a Window Inside His Own Home
The suspect had previously been charged with 40 crimes during the course of his career, including drug trafficking, aggravated assault while discharging a firearm, battery on a law enforcement officer, and attempted first-degree felony murder.
He had been convicted of robbery with a firearm, failing to register as a career felon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, resisting arrest with violence, and possession of controlled substances.
Ivey told reporters that the suspect is the perfect example of “what’s wrong with our criminal justice system.”
“He should have been safety locked behind bars where he couldn’t victimize another citizen or innocent bystanders,” he said. “Something is wrong with our system, and it’s time that we as citizens say, enough is enough. I am personally sicked that this thug with such a violent criminal history is out of jail where he almost killed two of our deputies.”
One deputy sustained multiple injuries, including a gunshot wound to the leg, but both are expected to survive.
Incident begins at 3:32
SEE ALSO: WATCH: Sheriff’s Deputy Shoots Attacker Who Came After Him with a Knife
The incident begins with relative calm. Deputy Brian Potters speaks with the suspect in the back seat of the car while Deputy Tyler Thoman speaks with a woman standing near a squad car. Another man leans against the suspect’s vehicle.
When Thoman asks Potters to get the suspect out of vehicle, the man emerges wielding an AR-pistol and begins firing at both deputies. A firefight ensures during which 61 shots are fired. The suspect appears to get hit in the leg, and Potters can be heard yelling that he’s been hit as well.
The suspect circles around behind the squad car, but Potters doesn’t seem to notice and continues firing in the direction of the suspect’s vehicle.
The suspect sneaks behind Potters and smashes him in the head with his pistol. Potters goes down while Thoman tries to shoot at the suspect, but Thoman appears to accidentally drop his magazine from his pistol. He reloads somewhere off-screen, and returns to fire 15 successive rounds at the suspect on the ground.
Potters suffered a gunshot wound to the lower leg, head lacerations, tissue damage, a concussion, and fractured orbital bones and sinuses, Ivey said. Thoman sustained no injuries.
GunsAmerica reached out to Ivey to find out how the suspect obtained his firearm, but did not immediately receive a response.
“Evil can never be dead enough”…love it!
The RACIST was in the car with an AR.
GREATEST MAG DUMP EVER!
Not on MSNBC.
After seeing comments condemning or critiquing the actions of the officers involved I had to say something. First off my background is serving a seven year tour on the southwest border. I have had hundreds of encounters where I have had to use varying degrees of force to diffuse a situation. That being said anyone who wants to judge these guys, I suggest to you that you take the oath, put on the badge and after a few years maybe I’ll consider your opinion depending on where you served and your service record. HONOR FIRST
Stupid moron. Death by deputy, and good riddance. Hoping Deputy Potter had an uneventful recovery, if it’s possible after a 9mm round tears through muscle, tendon bone, nerve and blood vessels.
Scratch one thug…..nice shoot, deputy!!
These two poor cops went hysterical the second TSHTF. Bad training. Poor cops couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag.
The second you loose sight of the perp you go back to back to avoid ambush, flanking or a 180 attack. Call it loud and clear the second you see action in your view or sector so your team mates or partners know what’s happening and where.
Remember… there were other possible threats on the loose around them when they lost sight of the shooter.
Lucky the perp’s gun went bad.
Good thing they made it. Good thing they lit up the perp… he had it coming.
Had to smile when the cop did a mag dump. That’s how many 9mm’s it takes to stop a do or die perp.
If I were a street cop I’d carry a .40 or a .357 Sig.
What law enforcement experience do you have?
A tragic tale with a happy ending … PoS assumes room temperature -> becomes compost.
Uh oh, AR pistol used by thug. Get ready for the Left’s gun-ban excuse: “We have to get those ‘weapons of war’ off our streets!!”
Translation– no meaningful legislation to keep guns away from criminals, but going after all those guns owned by law-abiding citizens.
Hmmm, the other occupants of the vehicle had no clue who the perp was, and so couldn’t forewarn the deputies? Right.
If only social workers had responded instead…our perp would have been reformed and taken up a life of good citizenship, productivity and responsibility.
Well said buddy.
God Bless and watch over our Law Enforcement Personnel
This is why you can never be to prepared to protect yourself, your family, friends and stuff from bad criminals with the best equipment and training that you can afford.
I’ve been a mechanic and motor cycle rider/ racer since I was a kid and the saying is if you have a five dollar head you can afford a five dollar helmet.
And just like that saying, can you afford to cheap out with everyone’s safety and protection?
Be careful, be safe by being prepared, protect our constitution and never surrender.
Tired of seeing this from the “less than 15% population” of the population, then have to listen to them complain about the cops.
THIS is why you dump the mag!
“Because evil can’t be dead enough”. I would like to add my support for this sheriff to run for President and use that as his campaign slogan.
It’s extremely disturbing to witness what these two brave LEO’s had to go through. Thank God officer Thoman was able to neutralize this animal before ‘it’ killed officer Potter. What happened to the ‘three strikes law’?
Why was this sub-human even out on the street. When are we, as a society, going to demand our judges and jail systems keep these thugs locked up and off our streets? Instead of wasting our tax dollars on entitlements we should be building more prisons to keep this trash where it belongs – off our streets and behind bars. Or dead.
My thoughts and prayers for these two brave public servants and their families. And thank you sir’s for taking out the trash.
If you or I did what these officers did we would be lock up in jail or charge because we shot at someone who wasn’t holding a gun that ran away when the shooting started. Look at the video better the person who was at the back of the car ran away 40 yards or so and when Potters came around the passenger side started shooting at him. I know he was already shot in the leg but that doesn’t give him you or me the right to just start shooting at anything we see. That is why I and other don’t think law officers should not have qualified immunity.
Notice Potter firing randomly at suspects car over the head of his partner. What the hell was his target at that point??? And then he gets blind sided by the perp coming around the squad car. Glad these guys nailed the perp but their tactics could use some work.
Ghetto terrorists are a cancer on civilization. If those deputies were women instead of men, the car load of black ghetto-born human debris would have escaped.
Brody have you ever been in a situation any thing close to that? OBVIOUSLY NOT. This worked out exactly the way is should have. No way to have it go perfect with so many moving unpredictable things happening, but don’t play Monday morning quarterback.
DELCO,
So you are saying it was ok to shoot at an unarm person that ran away? I spent 6 years in the Marines serving as an 8531 primary marksmanship instructor also I’m NRA certified pistol rifle shotgun and range safety officer. Your Monday morning quarterback is an excuse for the officer bad decision that if you or I made would put us in jail, but keep licking the boots maybe you be the last one they stomp on.
So exactly what video did you watch Brody ??? The pos exited the vehicle with an AR and at no point did he not have it or stop trying to use it to kill the deputies. I never saw him “run away”. I did see him attempting to avoid being shot and get into a better position to shoot the deputies. There is a BIG difference. He began firing as soon as he exited the vehicle and didn’t stop until his weapon wouldn’t fire. He didn’t even try to “run away” then, instead he used the weapon as a club and made further attempts to kill the deputies. Maybe you need glasses, but as is more likely, you’re simply another leftist liberal that is really anti-gun and anti-police.
Wille-O
I think your are mistaking. I’m talking about the person who was leaning against the back of the car before the shooting started. He ran away 40 or 50 yards away when Potter came around the SUV and just started shooting in the direction of person who ran away and came back after the POS was killed. All I’m saying is you or me did what the officers did we would be in jail, but I guess if we did what Hillary and Biden done we would be in jail too. “It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it” George Carlin
I will acknowledge that due to only having (1) camera/video we have a very limited perspective. That being said, at no point did I see the officer who was at the RR door of the vehicle that the perp exited fire at the subject who was seen leaning on the rear of said vehicle. I did see a round strike the roof of this vehicle and it appears to have been fired at the perp with the AR. The round wasn’t fired into the vehicle and there was no one else in the line of fire except the perp firing the AR. The officer’s shot was low and didn’t clear the roof of the car. Understandable given the totality of the circumstances – they were being fired upon, they were returning fire and (1) of the officers had already been hit. I saw nothing that would concern me from a civil or criminal perspective as an officer or a civilian. That said, a Nashville police officer was indicted for 1st degree murder for doing his job as trained. He was offered a deal that he felt compelled to take and did. Spending (3) years in jail vs. the possibility of life would make anyone consider. He felt he couldn’t take the risk. I understand. My point being, I wouldn’t want to know the law justified my actions and have to turn my future over to anyone given the “political climate” in this country today – not as an officer or a civilian.
My prayers are going up for Deputy Potter for a complete recovery. I am glad that the innocent guy who was on the road didn’t get shot. He should pick better “friends” to ride around with. I’ve said it before and I will say it again…by and large, America’s Sheriff’s are the last, tall enduring fence around our Constitution protecting the rights we are guaranteed therein. If your town has Sheriff who stands tall in defense of the Constitution, no matter what their party affiliation, send them a letter of appreciation and acknowledge their good work.
As others have said, “Because Evil can never be dead enough” should be on a tee-shirt.
God bless our law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day. The vast majority of Americans still support you!
Another George Floyd..Im sure the left wing media lionized him. God bless our lawmen !
Family member of slain thug– “Ma baby neva dun nothin’ wrong. He be a good boy.”
$30million settlement from civil lawsuit coming.
Say his name.. shredded felon.. Say his name;;; Oh hell lets just go pillage & plunder & burn any how :::::
Well done deputies, all the good guys lived and the bad guy died, in the end, that’s what mattered. In any fight, your ability to be effective drops to your lowest level of training, as no one rises to the occasion and magically gets movie Ninja skills.
Luckily, the Bad Guy obviously had no formal training or any type of fire discipline. Why he decided to stop firing and grapple with the other officer is interesting, either his gun jammed, was out of ammo or he was just stupid, maybe all three.
The other Deputy who fired the balance of his magazine into the suspect did well, as you fire until the threat is 100% neutralized. He reloaded and scanned for other threats, which is what you’re trained to do. The Deputy who was shot and hopping around, stayed in the fight and didn’t lay down waiting for help to come.
People will examine the shooter’s rap sheet, but no prosecutors or judges will lose their jobs or be disciplined, as they are just beyond all accountability.
I am a disabled viet nam vet I was wounded in action, I am so proud to have these Very brave Men
& WOMEN serving to protect. THANKS VERY MUCH.
“evil can”t be dead enough” should be on a t-shirt!
I listened to the Bill Mick Show on WMMB the other morning with Sherriff Ivey a couple mornings ago. Sherriff Ivey said the episode will be used as training. He stood up for his deputies. The perp had a gun rap and felony charges. I too wonder why he was out on bond. The judge should be investigated. I also recall judges releasing numerous criminal felony thugs from incarceration due to C-19. So much for “Gun Control! It was obvious the perp didn’t have any.
I remember a quote from the Israeli’s back in the 70’s when their primary gun was an UZI “we don’t consider a person dead from 9mm unless he’s been shot at least 3 times”.
I thought a better answer about why the cop shot so many rounds into the perp would be “he ran out of bullets.”
…… because evil can’t be dead enough. Clear?
Quote of the year…”the answer is simple: because evil can never be dead enough,”
Thank God the officers survived and we have one less miscreant Biden Voter to deal with.
I agree that criminals should remain in jail and not released by these liberal judges and politicians.
Another scumbag off the streets for good, that’s great, but I have 2 questions. Sheriff Ivey said the other two had nothing to do with the crime. It seems to me, hauling around an armed violent felon would, or should be a violation such as aiding and abetting. My other question is “what the hell was officer Potters shooting at when he was firing at the vehicle?” The only one in the vehicle was the baby. IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET SON. IMHO this guy needs further safety training or should be removed from the force.
It’s so easy for you to watch a video pass judgment on the officer!
He was not shooting at the baby or the car.
He was shooting at the other occupant eh where he probably thought the shots were coming from.
It was a stressful encounter with a lot of dynamic stuff going on
He did good for crap storm he was put to in.
If you’ve never been put into a situation like that you would not understand the adrenaline dump the television the auditory exclusion the loss of fine motor skills everything that happens to the human body that’s why he got broadsided by the guy.
Instead of demanding somebody gets fired just realize how ignorant you are and and shut your mouth!
Tunnel Vision, Adrenaline dump and Auditory exclusion is a very valid explanation. These two Deputies are exactly the kind of Officers we need standing on that Thin Blue Line in the darkest of times. I thank God they came out of this. My only question is what kind of Ammo was they issued? Firing that many shots and hitting their target, should’ve put this thug on the ground a lot sooner. 9mm hollow-points are okay, although in this instance as well as others recently, A good .45 acp hollow-point would’ve stopped the threat a whole lot quicker. The effect of shear brut force of a hit with a .45 or .44 round is creditable when the threats are more likely jacked up on a drug or so hopped up with adrenaline they don’t feel the effects of a 9mm. With the .44 or .45 rounds shear punching power, I don’t care what your mind wants to do, having three center mass will take out everything leaving only your shoulder blades to clap together. This is why the British army went to a larger round during the boar wars, they faced a enemy threat that kept coming. again I support these two fine officers and pray they recover quickly.
Former Sgt FSP Death-Row
Caliber wars are stupid, 9mm works just fine. Back in the 1970’s a lot of people where shot and killed, but didn’t know they where actually “dead”, because drugs kept them in the fight. Other than a deep driving bullet that hits the spine or the brain, these folks would run or stay in the fight until their blood pressure dropped from bleeding out, 5, 10 or more minutes after being first shot, which is a ton of time in a fight.
The U.S. Army first experienced this in the Philippines, after the Spanish American War, fighting Moro Tribesman who would wrap themselves in tight linens to act as a tourniquet of sorts and get really high, before attacking. People bagged on the 30-40 Krag and the 38 (9mm) caliber revolves back then too.
The myth says that the old 45 Colt SAA and the 12 Gauge Shotgun effectively eliminated this threat. The truth is that the ambush ranges were close in the jungle, troops were not well trained and big knives don’t miss, bullets do. An enemy that is willing to die and expects to, will never stop and they will not retreat,
A solid soft lead 38 might not make it to a vital area, every time, but the Krag round will easily punch through most humans, scoring central nervous system hits, if the shooter does his part, however at theses close ranges, with a bolt gun, you may only get one shot and then its grapple time.
If you or I did what these officers did we would be lock up in jail or charge because we shot at someone who wasn’t holding a gun that ran away when the shooting started. Look at the video better the person who was at the back of the car ran away 40 yards or so and when Potters came around the passenger side started shooting at him. I know he was already shot in the leg but that doesn’t give him you or me the right to just start shooting at anything we see. That is why I and other don’t think law officers should not have qualified immunity.
It’s very easy to criticize or say what you would do if you’ve never been in a firefight or a simple self~defense situation where guns are used. I encountered my very first self~defense situation using a shotgun but I had a head start. I called the Sheriff’s station to report a suspicious luxury car with paper plates and a young guy that was in that car. Too young to be driving something like that, a Porsche Panamera. He had been knocking on our door and I had seen him through one of the slits of the shutters that was closed over the window overlooking the front entrance. About a minute after talking to the deputy, 3 guys suddenly opened the doors to the car, rushed up the driveway, and split into two groups. One eventually jumped one of the gates to go to the rear of the house. My mind wasn’t accepting what was happening because I was panicking. But in the few seconds that I saw all this happening, I told the deputy I was grabbing my shotgun. I then had to will myself to remain calm and breathe deeply before going downstairs. I never had to point a gun at anyone and I never had to make a decision to shoot, knowing that I would most likely end someone’s life. That scared me more than anything else. My handicapped mother’s hands were shaking so bad that she couldn’t even dial a phone. Nothing drastic occurred. The presence of my shotgun was enough to deter all 4 ex~cons from a gang that specialized in “knock~knock” burglaries. I later found out that there were 4 guys, not 3, because the sheriff drove us to the scene where all 4 were captured at a freeway entrance. We were surprised because we thought that there were only 3. I realized that I missed seeing the 4th person because he was the driver but very tall nonetheless. Maybe mind ignored him because I was focused on other things like defending my home and mother.
I noticed this too. After dreadlocks runs behind squad, Leo takes a few shots at one of two guys who ran away for cover. Although I’m glad both officers prevailed, the fact that this detail gets a shoulder shrug is concerning. Shooting at a presumably unarmed individual because your too jacked up on adrenaline? That’s cool, no biggie.
Maybe the second one is running back towards the conveyance to obtain another weapon. Would you wait and see if he came up firing with one? That’s not how it works. This is a crime with weapons in progress.
I wouldn’t shoot if he didn’t gun. What would you say to a judge, your honor I thought he might run back to me and get a gun or something? That would work wonder for the officer but not for me or you.
I concur with you…But must ask you honestly what is your credentials for being involved in a close-quarter ambush when the assailant has a semi-auto weapon already drawn and firing at you. Your first instinct is to Not Die………find cover. Apparently, the officer that you are schooling is the one that shot the scumbag in the leg. It easy to criticize someone when you are not the one under fire…..everybody is good at that I did not see one round strike the car. You think you know what you would do but ya don’t I have a buddy that was a State high Patrol that was involved in an ambush is partner was killed, and he was wounded…He will tell you it is different than training.
No one should second guess what was in this officers mind, including myself. But I’ll toss in my $.02. It appears to me the officer was firing back at where the original threat was coming from. He wasn’t shooting low into the car.
I don’t think he was aware the threat had flanked him. He obviously had tunnel vision and was trying to respond to the threat that was originally in that area. If you watch the video it’s quite obvious Potter wasn’t aware the perp had circled around behind him. Thank God the animals weapon jammed and he ended up having to use it as a club. That gave officer Thoman a chance to regroup and realize where the threat was coming from and take him out.
We weren’t there. Let’s not armchair quarter-back this. Just be thankful these hero’s work for YOU.
Another possible reason for “so many shots” could mean that the perp was high on drugs. Some drugs can keep the “shoote” from knowing that he has been shoT until he dies from loss of blood. PCP comes to mind.
Sheriff Ivey:
Please consider running for president. If not, at least governor of NY? Your common sense attitude and leadership should be a model for the rest of this country, going back to the way “things used to be” or should be.
Glad your brave quick thinking deputies are with us today, we’ll keep all in our thoughts and prayers.
Don’t stop shooting until your enemy stops moving.
If only he had proper 2a tactical training there would be three less racist cowards patrolling the streets.
If that was supposed to be funny, it fell flat.
If it was serious, you’re an a$$hat….
What a Piece of Excrement You are . . .
Asshole
This incident probably would not have occurred if the perp had not been released from custody. Liberal judges are to blame for many of the crimes and murders that are committed these days. The officers did a good job!
If the gun was not stolen, then dollars to doughnuts finds it was a girlfriends ‘Straw purchase’.
Stunning what desperate career criminals will do. I’m glad the officers will be OK, and that they have rid the planet of another career criminal. Laws should be changed so that we don’t have career criminals.