Deputies Exchange Gunfire With Armed Carjacking Suspect

An armed suspect who fired at Volusia County sheriff's deputies was fatally wounded Thursday afternoon and a VCSO sergeant survived with a grazing gunshot wound to the head in a shooting that erupted near Interstate 4 after the suspect carjacked a woman at gunpoint in Deltona, led deputies on a pursuit to the DeLand area and appeared to be ready to carjack another innocent person.

The initial carjacking was reported around 2:21 p.m. at a home on the 2500 block of Ludlow Street in Deltona, where the victim said a man got in her truck, pointed a gun at her, demanded her keys and then took off in the vehicle. Deputies attempted to stop the stolen truck in Deltona, but the suspect continued fleeing erratically. At one point, the suspect swerved at a deputy who deployed stop sticks on the truck. As he fled, the suspect appeared to be waving a handgun out the driver's side window.

After several stop stick hits, with all four tires appearing to be deflated, the truck slowed to a crawl and came to a stop on State Road 44 in front of the Volusia County Fairgrounds. The suspect got out of the truck with the gun still in his hand and ran in the direction of several motorists who were stopped on the road next to him. A deputy drove his unmarked SUV in the suspect's direction, preventing him from reaching another potential carjacking victim, and the suspect ran the other direction and opened fire at several other responding deputies. Deputies returned fire, striking the suspect several times. Still armed with the handgun, the suspect went into the woods, where deputies ultimately took him into custody, brought him out and performed first aid before he was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.