DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two Daytona Beach officers who shot and wounded an armed carjacking suspect who pointed a rifle at them outside a Wawa in May will not be charged, the State Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
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The suspect, 38-year-old Shon Christopher James, survived.
James is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond on charges of possession of firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer, and attempted carjacking with a deadly weapon.
Daytona Beach Police released body-cam video of the shooting shortly after it happened in a Wawa parking lot on South Ridgewood Avenue on May 25.
James initially tried to carjack a worker at a nearby Popeye’s, police said. The worker got away and drove to the Wawa and called police, reports show.
An officer and sergeant who responded ordered James to put down his rifle. They opened fire when he pointed the firearm at them, records show.
Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a letter Tuesday that he had reviewed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s examination of the shooting and “no further action is warranted by this office.”
The letter went to FDLE Special Agent Bradley Lewis.
“This letter is to advise that this office has reviewed all of the investigative reports, officer statements and witness statements provided by your office regarding the “police use of force” involving Sgt. Christie Gernert and Officer Richard Jung of the Daytona Beach Police Department that occurred on May 25, 2020,” Larizza wrote.