PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – An autopsy has revealed that a Ponte Vedra Beach man who St. Johns County deputies say fired at them Thursday night was struck in the head by return gunfire.
When deputies responded to a call of a despondent man at the The Fountains condominium in the 600 block of A1A the man -- later identified as 59-year-old Daryl Atkins -- fired at them, then barricaded himself inside the condo. A SWAT team robot entered the unit and found his body about 10:40 p.m.
No other injuries were reported.
Residents living in the complex were evacuated during the standoff.
"This morning after it all settled, I realized how dangerous it actually was for us," said Rich, a resident of The Fountains who called 911 after trying to help Atkins. "It hit me a little bit after that it could have been worse. Even if accidentally, we could have gotten shot in our condo."
Rich said neighbors went to help Atkins after he passed out while walking his dog. They said he was unsteady on his feet and they tried to help him back to his front door. Then they found a gun on him. Neighbors said after they tried to take the gun away, he became upset and grabbed another.
"He told me not to take his, and he pulled out another what I thought was a handgun and said don't take his gun. So I got out," Rich said.
Rich said he saw lots of bullet holes inside his next door neighbor's home. He said he called deputies in hopes they could diffuse the situation.
Deputies said they were trying to talk Atkins out, and then he started shooting at them. They fired back multiple times -- 15 to 25, according to Rich.
"I just took cover and then all the sudden the guns went off like a machine gun," neighbor Jacob Thornton said. "We were all freaked out. We took cover."
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has joined the investigation.
Deputy David Rosado, Cpl. Paul Clark and Sgt. David Tarbert were placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard procedure after a police-involved death.
Rich said from what he saw, the deputies involved did the right thing and opened fire in self-defense.
"I don't think there's any question," he said. "They tried to talk him out. They asked him to come out and talk to them."