JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Investigators said 20-year-old Mark Stephen Yoachum Jr. and another masked robber stormed a Family Dollar store on Chaffee Point Boulevard just after 7 p.m. Monday. Police said the robbers stole a customer's car and led police on a 30-minute chase.
After Yoachum crashed the car into a ditch, police said he took off running into a wooded area on Oregon Street, near Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.
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Pursuing officers released a K9 officer to locate Yoachum.
"The dog was let off the leash and did exactly what he was trained to do -- he engaged the suspect and kept the officers safe," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief John Hartley said.
Police said Yoachum fired shots at the dog and the officers. Three officers returned fire. Yoachum and the dog, named "Sarge," were both pronounced dead at the scene.
"(Yoachum) certainly shot at the dog. The dog was hit one time, and we believe, certainly, it was the suspect who shot the dog," Hartley said at a briefing Tuesday morning.
Hartley said Yoachum and three officers each fired multiple shots. Police said a 9 mm pistol was recovered at the scene and bullet casings were found in and outside the car, and live rounds were still in the gun.
The three officers involved in the shooting, K-9 Officer Jackson Short, K-9 Officer Larry Proper and Officer R.M. Silcox, were not injured. They were placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, which is standard procedure after a police-involved shooting.
It was not clear when the second robber got out of the car, but police believe he was not in the vehicle when Yoachum wrecked it.
Late Tuesday, Channel 4 learned the person police were looking for turned himself in to a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. The man, whose name was not released, was taken downtown for questioning.
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Hartley said detectives were investigating whether Yoachum and the second man held up the same store last week.
Yoachum's grandmother called his death "heartbreaking."
Hazel Yoachum said he still lived at home and attended church with the family. She said they though he was at work.
"His mother said when he was running he called her and told her ... 'I'm running from the police,'" Hazel Yoachum said. "His dad said, 'Stop and give up,' and he said 'I can't. They'll put me away for a long time.'"
She told Channel 4's Diane Cho that the family can't understand why the community seems more upset by the death of the police dog than her grandson.
"I know the man that trained the dog loved the dog, but we loved Steven, too," Hazel Yoachum said.