Update: Pasco Deputy Nearly Loses Life In Shooting

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL -- If not for the quick actions of his fellow deputies, Pasco County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Stone might have been killed this morning, according to Sheriff Chris Nocco.

In the early-morning hours of Saturday, Stone, 41, was responding to a domestic violence call with fellow deputies when a man opened fire on deputies. One bullet cut Stone's femoral artery, a major artery in the thigh. When the femoral artery is severed and the blood flow isn't restricted, the victim can bleed out in about seven minutes, according to the National Institute of Health.

But deputies on the scene promptly applied a tourniquet to Stone's thigh to stop the blood flow, most likely saving his life. Stone was transported to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point where he underwent surgery and is now recuperating.

"I’m not a doctor. I don’t know if that saved his life," Nocco said. "But I can tell you the probability of him being able to walk and live again is because of the quick reaction of his teammates, the members of the sheriff’s office who put that tourniquet on."

The events leading to the shooting unfolded at 12:25 a.m. when deputies responded to a domestic violence call at a home in the 7300 block of Humboldt Avenue off Seven Springs Boulevard and State Road 54 in New Port Richey.

According to Nocco, the adult daughter of Terrance J. Peterson Jr., 62, called to report that her parents were fighting and her father had shot an Amazon Alexa.

When deputies arrived, the wife came out of the house but Peterson barricaded himself inside and refused to come out. The daughter had already left the home.

Deputies waited about an hour and then tried to enter the home to speak to Peterson. That's when Peterson opened fire, according to the sheriff.

"This was an absolute gun battle out there," said Nocco. "Make no mistake about it; the suspect tried to kill everybody that was outside the house, all those deputies. We thank God our deputies are safe."

During the gunfire, Stone, who has been with the sheriff's office for two years, was shot in the thigh and a bullet grazed another deputy's hand. Bullets also hit sheriff's vehicles and neighboring homes, which had been evacuated.

Deputies retreated and sent a robotic device equipped with a video camera into the house to locate Peterson. When Peterson was found, deputies launched a tear gas canister into the home and apprehended Peterson, who was found with a head injury. Nocco said he doesn't know if the injury was self-inflicted or if he was injured during the gunfire.

Peterson was placed on a gurney and taken to the hospital where he is listed in critical condition.

The mother and daughter were not injured.

Peterson faces at least five charges of attempted murder along with domestic violence.