JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At approximately 9:15 a.m., the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office tells us that a white, middle-aged male entered the GATE gas station off Bowden Road and Spring Park.
JSO says that the suspect waited until customers cleared out before demanding that the three employees working go outside. As he was making these demands, the suspect was making comments about self-harm.
Read: Jacksonville police: Man who said he’d ‘come out shooting’ killed by officer near Bowden Road & I-95
Once the employees were outside, he told them he was going to “come out shooting,” and instructed them to call JSO.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey say that officers were dispatched to the GATE station at 9:22 a.m. for what they thought was an armed robbery. Once on scene, the suspect exited the station.
“He raised his handgun and started quickly walking towards those officers,” Coarsey said.
Coarsey says that Officer H. Cascante then fired his rifle several times at the individual before striking him. The suspect was pronounced dead on the scene.
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When asked if this was a suicide-by-cop case, Coarsey responded with, “That’s what it appears to be, yes.”
JSO has not yet released the identity of the individual.
This marks the sixth officer-involved shooting this year.
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