JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A traffic stop led to an exchange of gunfire between an officer and another man, who was tasered before he was taken into custody Thursday afternoon, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
T.K. Waters, JSO’s chief of investigations, said officers were called to the scene on Golfair Boulevard near the intersection of Baldwin Avenue at about 5 p.m. He said a passenger of the vehicle, that had been pulled over for a window tint violation, jumped out, began waving his arms and took off running. Waters said an officer gave chase on foot, while another followed in a vehicle.
Waters said a third officer, parked in his vehicle, was preparing to deploy a drone — when he saw the suspect run across Golfair Boulevard in his rearview.
“When he turned around and started approaching the suspect, the suspect turned and opened fire 10 times at our police officer’s vehicle, striking the hood, coming very close to our officer. The officer then returned fire,” Waters said.
When the officer stopped his vehicle, the man was sitting on the curb of a sidewalk with a gun in his hand.
“He was ordered to drop the handgun and stand up, he did so, but he did not move,” Waters said.
According to the chief of investigations, officers repeatedly ordered him to move away from the handgun.
“He stepped away, about one step maybe a step-and-a-half, approached the handgun again,” Waters said.
Waters added that was when a conductive energy weapon was used by police, and the man was taken into custody. The man was hospitalized for treatment.
No officers were injured.
Kiara Clay lives in a home off Golfair Boulevard.
“Me and my children had just pulled up to the house and were in there for about five minutes, and all of a sudden, I heard bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Like, I thought somebody was banging at the door or beating trying to get in the house. And my daughter was screaming and hollering and they were like, ‘Mom, they’re shooting in the house,’” Clay explained.
She said her home was hit by gunfire, and Waters believes those shots came from the suspect’s weapon.
“That’s still under investigation, but the angle of the shots that came from the suspect would line up with that house,” Waters said.
The suspect was identified as Demetrick Manning, 30. Waters said he’s a convicted felon and prohibited from owning a firearm. He added that Manning was released from prison on Jan. 17 and had outstanding warrants at the time of the stop.
Following Thursday’s incident, Waters said, Manning faces charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and possession a firearm by a convicted felon.