By Grace Toohey
Source Orlando Sentinel
A Brevard County deputy sheriff was injured and an occupant of a vehicle stopped by deputies was killed in a shootout Aug. 30 afternoon, officials said.
The occupant of the vehicle, who was not identified, opened fire on two deputies conducting the traffic stop on State Road 192 near Interstate 95 about 1 p.m., said Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey.
The man who was killed was a passenger in the vehicle with two other people, including a 2-month-old baby, Ivey said. When he was asked to exit the vehicle, the occupant took a short stock rifle and fired it at the deputy closest to him in the lower leg.
The deputies returned fire, killing the person.
One deputy was injured in the shooting, but he is expected to make a full recovery, Ivey said. He was at an area hospital Monday afternoon.
In a video posted to Facebook, Ivey declined to name the occupant but called him a “career criminal” and decried the criminal justice system for allowing him to be out on bond.
“He deserves exactly what he got, and now he can’t ever harm anyone else,” the sheriff said.
At an earlier press conference, Chief Deputy Michael DeMorat declined to provide other information about the incident, citing the ongoing investigation, including the circumstances that led to the shooting.
It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the traffic stop, but DeMorat did say no one else but the shooter was considered a suspect.
DeMorat would not give the deputies’ names.
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