1 person dead after officer-involved shooting
ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Authorities say a man died after two Florida police officers opened fire on him.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina says the officers had been responding to a traffic crash in a strip mall parking lot Monday, when a Marshalls security guard told them about an alleged shoplifting in progress, involving two women.
Mina says the officers confronted the women, later identified as Brittany Chandler, 26, and Jocelyn Villot, 32, in the parking lot, as they were running towards a gold van. The officers attempted to block the women and ended up near the front of the van. That's when investigators said the driver accelerated towards an officer. Fearing for their lives, Mina says the officers shot the driver.
The wounded driver managed to leave and made it to a nearby park, where he died. Authorities did not immediately release the name of the deceased.
Villot and Chandler have now been charged felony third-degree murder in the death of the driver, in addition to charges of grand theft and resisting an officer without violence. No weapons were found on the suspects.
The shooting is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The officers who shot the driver, as per standard procedure, have been relived of duty with pay. They were not immediately identified.