DELAND, Fla. — A suspect is dead, and a deputy was grazed in the head by a bullet Thursday after the suspect led officers on a pursuit, then ran into woods near the Volusia County Fairgrounds before being taken into custody, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
- Deputy grazed by bullet during law enforcement pursuit
- SR 44 closed for 10 miles; Interstate 4 on-ramps also blocked off
- Suspect in carjacking also shot, pronounced dead
State Road 44 was closed for roughly 10 miles from Interstate 4 to Old Sawmill Road because of the law enforcement activity.
The Sheriff's Office said the pursuit began with a carjacking just before 2:30 p.m. on the 2500 block of Ludlow Street in Deltona.
They say a woman saw a man inside her truck, and when she went to see what happened, the man pointed a gun at the woman, took her car keys and left.
The sheriff's office says deputies spotted the truck, but the suspect, later identified as Phillip Thomas Marsh, 30, tried to ram them and pointed a gun, leading to the pursuit.
Marsh led Volusia deputies to S.R. 44 near DeLand Crossings Boulevard, south of I-4.
Stop sticks took out all four tires. The sheriff's office said Marsh fled the truck and tried to carjack a nearby black SUV.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was part of the pursuit.
"The gunman then turns back and runs toward the vehicles, my car there and the car with the back lifted on it, and opens fire on us," Chitwood said. "Four deputies return fire. The suspect then runs into the woods, where he refuses to drop the gun. We have to assemble a team with ballistics shields and Tasers to go in, tase him and get him to drop the firearm."
That's when Chitwood says deputies realized one of their own is bleeding.
"Once he's secure, it's apparent that Sgt. Tommy Dane is bleeding profusely from his head, and he says, 'I think I've been shot," Chitwood said.
Chitwood said a bullet had grazed Dane's cap, showing a picture and the entry and exit holes on the cap.
Dane was airlifted to Halifax, and he was "talking, ambulatory and ornery." He was released from the hospital later Thursday.
"In 32 years of policing, this is probably the luckiest day I will to tell you I've been involved in policing," Chitwood said. "Because a millimeter lower, and Sgt. Dane is dead."
Marsh also was shot by deputies and transported to a hospital, they said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Marsh had been reported missing and suicidal earlier this week. He had an extensive criminal history, including robbery, burglary, and aggravated battery.
"Clearly, his actions... when he came out of that vehicle, he wanted us to shoot him, and he was going to take one of us with him," Chitwood said.