JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was fatally shot Tuesday morning by an officer with a rifle outside a Gate gas station on Bowden Road after Jacksonville police say the man pointed a gun at officers while walking toward them.
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said the incident began at 9:22 a.m. when a man walked into the Gate not far from I-95 while several customers and employees were inside.
The man walked around the store for several minutes, and once the customers left, Coarsey said, the man pulled out a handgun and demanded that all the employees leave the store.
JSO said that while he was doing that, he made several comments about harming himself. Once the employees left, the man stayed inside and, at some point, opened the door and told the employees that he was going to come out shooting.
Coarsey said the man told employees to call the police, and then he stayed inside, watching the front door, waiting for officers to arrive.
When the officers got to the scene, the man opened the door again and made the same statement to them, saying that he was going to come out shooting, Coarsey said.
Investigators said the man closed the door, but seconds later, he opened it again, came out with his gun raised and started quickly walking toward the officers.
That’s when Officer H. Cascante fired several times with a rifle, fatally striking the man, police said.
Investigators said the man never fired his gun, and Coarsey said it appeared he wanted to provoke the officers into taking his life.
“We’re never going to let a person fire on us if we can avoid it,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said after the sixth officer-involved shooting of the year.
No officers were hurt in the encounter.
Cascante was hired on July 6, 2020, and this is his first officer-involved shooting, JSO said.
The State Attorney’s Office is conducting its own independent investigation.