Armed Man Killed In SWAT Standoff At Pinellas Park Home: Sheriff

PINELLAS PARK, FL — An armed man was killed by police officers Tuesday during a SWAT standoff at a Pinellas Park home.

Detectives assigned to the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force are investigating the officer-involved shooting, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The armed suspect, 39-year-old Ryan Lecompte, was shot and killed after two members of the Pinellas Park Police Department, Corporal Wesley Ducheney, 40, and Officer Ryan Poletz, 32, opened fire on him, the sheriff’s office said.

Pinellas Park police responded to reports of a person armed with a rifle, later identified as Lecompte, at a home on Briar Ridge Court North around 11:30 a.m.

Officers tried to communicate with Lecompte with no success.

After this, PPPD activated the SWAT team to respond to the home, where the suspect was barricaded, the sheriff’s office said.

They breached the front door after hours outside the home and used a drone to find Lecompte inside.

Drone footage showed that he had a shotgun. Ducheney and Poletz, who were across the street, fired four rounds at Lecompte after he raised the gun at officers, the sheriff’s office said.

Lecompte was brought to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ducheney and Poletz were both uninjured.

“We don’t need to wait for him to shoot … especially with a guy that came out already three times with an AR15 and directly pointed that AR15 at the victim. He’s the one that created this situation and it is what it is,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

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