JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police have identified a 40-year-old man shot and killed by an undercover detective in a drug deal Thursday afternoon.
Police said Juan Lawrence, a convicted felon from Tampa, refused to put down his gun when Sgt. Valentino Demps (pictured below) told him to inside an apartment at Casa Del Rio Apartments in Arlington.
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Nathaniel Hill was arrested. He was the subject of a month-and-a-half-long drug investigation that was the result of a citizen complaint, police said.
Investigators said two detectives went into Hill's apartment to perform a transaction when they realized there were two other men inside.
The detectives had met beforehand to discuss the procedures of the operation, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief John Hartley said.
Hartley said takedown officers entered the apartment and were able to put two of the three men on the ground, including Hill and his son, 17-year-old Nathaniel Hill Jr.
Hartley said Demps, a veteran narcotics detective, stepped over the pile to give cover to the officers while they held the men down, and he saw Lawrence holding a 9 mm Kel-Tec (pictured below) loaded with seven rounds in his right hand and a magazine with seven rounds in his left hand. Lawrence pointed the gun at Demps and refused to put it down, Hartley said.
He said that's when Demps fired four shots, two of which struck Lawrence -- one in the face and one in the hip.
"I believe he saved their life," Hartley said of Demps. "I think if he'd have let Mr. Lawrence get down -- you're talking about five feet of distance -- if he'd have let him get down that hallway, we could have three or four dead officers at that scene."
No detectives were hurt.
Police searched the home and found a handgun in a back room they said belonged to Hill Sr. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Investigators said they also found about 33 grams of cocaine in the apartment.