Lake County Shooting: Andrew Scott Killed By Deputy Richard Sylvester, 26-Year-Old Mistaken For Murder Suspect
Lake County authorities are still looking into what went wrong on Sunday, July 15, when deputies were looking for attempted murder suspect, 31-year-old Jonathan Brown, at the Blueberry Hill apartment complex on Ryan Drive in Leesburg.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the investigation, which took place around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, took a wrong turn when uniformed deputies banged on the door of apartment 114 at the apartment complex.
According to reports, apartment 114 is where Brown was believed to located. Authorities say that prior to banging on the door Brown fled from deputies on a motorcycle, which they later found parked in front of Apartment 114. However, that was not the apartment in which Brown lived.
Instead they were met by Andrew Scott who reportedly came out with a gun. And while Deputies say they admit they knocked on the wrong apartment door, they also say they had no choice but to open fire when the 26-year-old Scott came out armed.
Scott was shot and killed, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Certainly, the police will be held accountable for this by way of a wrongful death suit, said WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.
WFTV is reporting that in a statement released by the Sheriff's Office immediately following the incident, they claim that they deputies made it a point to identify themselves. But according to an email later received by the local news outlet from the Sheriff's Office, details are revealed that say deputies didn't announce and identify themselves and called it a minor detail.
They banged on the door. They didn't yell out, 'Lake County Sheriff!' They weren't being loud; vocal. The guy opened the door at 2 in the morning, a witness who did not want to be identified told WFTV.
In further developments, the Sheriff's office reportedly told WFTV's Kathi Belich that deputies didn't have to identify themselves at all. According to the report, a spokesman with the Sheriff's Office told Belich that all deputies saw when the door opened was the muzzle of a gun, and they did what they had to protect themselves.
While people who knew the victim say that deputies are painting him in the wrong light, they go on to describe him as a gentle giant.
I saw him six hours before (the shooting), and he was fine, said one of Scott's friends. When I heard about it I thought it was a joke.
Reports indicate that while deputies may or may not have identified themselves, the deputy who fired the fatal shot, K-9 Deputy Richard Sylvester, was wearing a black utility vest with the word sheriff on the front.
K-9 Deputy Sylvester was also reportedly involved in another shooting which took place last week. The incident ended in the killing of Advanced Auto Parts employee Gilberto Rivera, behind his place of work in Eustis.
The Sheriff's Office told WFTV Rivera had killed the auto shop clerk and wounded another employee.
K-9 Deputy Richard Sylvester has been placed on administrative leave.
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