GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A man is dead after a Tuesday morning standoff with Alachua County deputies who attempted to serve him an arrest warrant.
Deputies went to Samuel Rivera’s girlfriend’s apartment on NW 9th Terrace in Gainesville just before 8 a.m. to serve him an arrest warrant for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
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According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the deputies commanded Rivera to exit the apartment. Since they did not receive a response, the deputies entered the apartment to arrest him.
They commanded Rivera to come out of the bedroom. He refused. But his girlfriend came out of the room, leaving Rivera in the room.
Deputies said Rivera fired a single shot from inside the room, causing them to leave the apartment and call on additional law enforcement resources.
As a precautionary measure, residents within the apartment building and other commercial/residential buildings nearby were evacuated for their safety.
A portion of University Avenue was also closed off due to the nature of Rivera’s location.
A hostage negotiator from the Gainesville Police Department worked for hours to get Rivera to surrender to authorities. Rivera still did not comply or exit the apartment.
By 11 a.m., SWAT launched a non-lethal chemical agent irritant into the apartment to get Rivera to surrender.
Instead, Rivera started shooting through a side window toward deputies. Deputies did not shoot back at him. They informed dispatch that Rivera was shooting at them.
Deputies then deployed additional canisters of the chemical agent. One deputy said he saw Rivera leave the bedroom, enter the living room with a handgun, and return to the bedroom.
Deputies continued to command him to drop the gun, but Rivera came to the front window and pointed it at the deputies.
A SWAT member fired one round and hit Rivera.
He died from his injuries.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. The deputy who made the fatal shot was placed on administrative leave pending the review’s outcome.