LAKELAND, Fla. – Officers fatally shot a man early Wednesday morning after they say he drove at them in a crowded parking lot.
Lakeland police Chief Larry Giddens told news outlets the shooting at 2:21 a.m. followed reports of a stolen car on East Memorial Boulevard. He said officers spotted the stolen vehicle in a parking lot when they responded to reports of people had gathered in a restaurant parking lot, making it a “large, chaotic scene.”
Giddens said the driver saw officers approaching and “aggressively began to speed through the parking lot, driving at one of our officers.”
A few officers fired at the driver. The vehicle hit parked cars and hit a light pole before crashing into another parked car, pushing it through the wall of a bicycle shop. The man was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital, where he died
The driver’s name wasn’t immediately released. The officers weren’t injured, and are on administrative leave.
WFTS-TV reported the black Camaro was stolen out of Winter Haven in Polk County.