A Florida deputy sheriff is on paid leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates his decision to fatally shoot an armed man whose brother was dying nearby.
The Orange County deputy sheriff shot and killed Bryan Richardson outside of an Orlando hotel on Aug. 6 as he approached his brother, Dylan Jimenez, who was on the ground with a gunshot wound.
Investigators learned that the brothers had had an altercation with another man when Jimenez and the man shot each other, WKMG-TV reported.
Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene and tried providing medical aid to Jimenez when they were interrupted by someone who shouted: “He has a gun, he has a gun, in his hand, pointing it at people!”
The deputies confronted Richardson and ordered him to drop the gun.” He told them to stop and said: “That’s my brother.”
That’s when one deputy shot him eight times.
Richardson was armed (see 2:14 of the video), but did not point the gun at deputies.
Both brothers died following their injuries, police said. The man involved in the shooting with Jimenez is expected to survive, the Orlando Sentinel reported. No officers were injured in the shooting.
The sheriff’s office cited Marsy’s Law ― which prevents information about crime victims from being released to the public ― and has not released the name of the deputy who shot Richardson, per the Orlando Sentinel. The deputy has been with the sheriff’s office for roughly four years and will be paid until an investigation is completed.
Mark NeJame, an attorney for the brothers’ family, told WKMG-TV that the deputy who fired at Richardson overreached.
“The indication we’re getting is that he overreacted in the situation, but we want to be appropriately respectful and cautious on behalf of the family and also on behalf of all of those involved,” NeJame said.
Source: HuffPost
