Florida Deputy Fatally Shoots Man During Traffic Stop

In this Jan. 21, 2018 photo, police work on the scene after a Florida sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a driver while attempting to stop him near Rockledge, Fla. (Tim Shortt/Florida Today via AP)

ROCKLEDGE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a driver while attempting to stop him.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey told news outlets that the man was driving erratically Sunday evening when a deputy tried to stop him. The vehicle eventually stopped but then the driver took off again.

Ivey says deputies used stop sticks which flattened three tires, but then used a pit maneuver, employed by patrol cars to push vehicles, to stop the car. The sheriff says that as the deputy approached, the driver “made an overt action that caused our deputy to fire.”

He said it wasn’t clear how many shots were fired. The deputy was placed on leave with pay as the incident is investigated.

Ivey didn’t identify the person killed or the deputy who was involved.