Dramatic Gunfight on the Water Ends with Cop Shot, 2 Arrested

The synopsis of events that ultimately led to the shooting of a Florida Fish and Wildlife Officer and the arrest of two suspects reads like a Hollywood script. The action detailed by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office isn’t fiction. It unfolded in Panama City Friday afternoon.

According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the events that led to the shooting of FWC Officer David Brady began to unfold around 4 p.m. when the officer received a call about a disturbance involving two men on a sailboat in the area of St. Andrew Pass.

Already on patrol in the area, Brady made his way to the pass, the sheriff’s office wrote in a media release. Once there, Brady located the sailboat and the two men. He asked them for identification and one of the men entered the vessel’s cabin. When the man returned, he was armed with a handgun and began firing shots at Brady.

“Officer Brady jumped from his boat into the water and began returning fire,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “The suspect continued to fire at Officer Brady and then both suspects boarded Officer Brady’s boat. The two attempted to run over Officer Brady with the boat several times as he returned fire, striking one of the suspects in the hand.”

Unable to run the officer over, the two men took off in Brady’s boat instead. The vessel was grounded in the area of Beach Drive and Cherry Street. At that point, the men ran north on Allen Avenue in an area known as the Cove.

Meanwhile, Brady managed to flag down a U.S. Coast Guard boat that had been called in for assistance. The guard members on board retrieved Brady from the water and took him to Bay Medical Center for treatment of gunshot wounds.

With Brady safe and the boat located, a search for the two suspects kicked off. The sheriff’s office was joined by the Panama City Police Department, FWC, Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in the manhunt for the two suspects.

Around 6:15 p.m., a break in the hunt came when an armed resident spotted two men attempting to break into a home on Massalina Avenue. The resident confronted the two, the sheriff’s office said. One of the men took off on foot and was later found by law enforcement. The other ran into the home.

Law enforcement officers set up a perimeter around the home and were eventually able to bring the suspect into custody. Inside the home, they found a Glock handgun that is believed to be the weapon used to shoot Brady.

Samuel Wyndham Reager, 18, was brought into custody at the home. Reager had a gunshot wound to the hand, suffered during the shootout with Brady, He also has an outstanding warrant from Michigan on drug-related charges, the sheriff’s office said. The second suspect has been identified as Lachlan Fain Akins, 20. Both men face attempted murder charges, among others. 

As for Brady, the sheriff’s office said his ballistic vest was able to stop a gunshot to his side. He was struck by another bullet in the upper shoulder. That injury, the sheriff’s office said, was able to be treated with a fair amount of ease. Brady was released from the hospital Friday night.

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