Tampa Man Fatally Shot By Sheriff's Deputies After Picking Up Gun

TAMPA, FL — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating a deputy-involved shooting in which three Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed a man early Sunday morning, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, at 12:42 a.m. the sheriff's communications bureau received a call reporting shots fired at the Bristol Bay Apartments, 4709 Bristol Bay Way in the Palm River area.

When deputies arrived, they were told that two men had gotten into a fight over a woman earlier in the night in an apartment. The fight moved outside where deputies said Jonathan Huertas Reyes, 32, shot at the other man multiple times but missed.

While attempting to speak with Huertas Reyes, deputies said they noticed he had a fanny pack on him. They said he ignored deputies' attempts to speak with them and led them on a brief foot chase through the apartment complex, according to the report.

When he ignored orders to stop, deputies said one of the deputies pulled out a taser. Huertas Reyes saw the taser, and pulled out a gun and pointed it at his own head, said deputies.

Onlookers began shouting at Huertas Reyes in Spanish and English to put down his weapon. A bilingual deputy, who was called to the scene, began speaking with Huertas Reyes on the phone, encouraging him to walk toward them without the gun in hand, said the report.

Huertas Reyes repeatedly made threats to harm himself, fearing he would go to jail for the shooting that had taken place earlier. Huertas Reyes finally put his firearm on the ground but refused to come toward deputies, according to the sheriff's report. Then he picked the firearm back up, forcing deputies to fire their service weapons toward him in fear of their lives and the lives of nearby onlookers.

Deputies immediately began lifesaving efforts, including using an AED, on Huertas Reyes. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff said.

The three deputies involved in the shooting are Sgt. Benjamin Kenney, a 21-year veteran of the sheriff's office; Deputy Nicholas Scudder, who has been with the sheriff's office for seven years; and Deputy Jeff Louis, who joined the sheriff's office a year ago.

None of the deputies involved have any prior uses of deadly force, said the sheriff.

The deputies have been placed on administrative leave while the FDLE investigates the shooting, the sheriff said.