Five deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave after a man armed with a BB gun was fatally shot Thursday afternoon in the Paradise Heights neighborhood, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
It is routine to place a deputy on paid administrative leave whenever there is an officer-involved shooting, officials said. Video from an Orange County Sheriff's Office drone, released Friday, starts with Landon Christopher Wooten, 18, running from the apartment with something drawn and pointed at deputies. Deputies shoot Wooten with non-lethal rounds before he runs inside. Then Wooten comes back out a moment later with what investigators say is a gun drawn again.
"This is definitely unnecessary," said Janae Wooten, the suspect's mother. "He was 18, he had a BB gun and I told the police officers several times he didn't have a gun. I told them that and they still did this."
Demings said the incident began when Wooten barricaded himself in his grandmother's home on Woodland Drive near Ocoee Apopka and West McCormick roads Thursday morning.
Deputies arrived at the home to arrest Wooten on warrants for armed burglary and aggravated assault with a firearm, Demings said.
When Wooten's grandmother answered the door, deputies saw the man pointing a handgun at them, so they retreated with the woman, and Wooten barricaded himself in the home, Demings said.
At about 3:30 p.m., Wooten emerged from the home with a cellphone in hand, and members of the SWAT team gave him orders about what to do with his hands. As he put his hands down, he pulled out a gun, Demings said.
Demings said one of the deputies shot Wooten with a hard plastic bullet before he retreated into the home and shot at deputies.
Minutes later, Wooten returned to the front door and shot at deputies again, and five SWAT team members returned fire, Demings said.
Demings said Wooten was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. It's unknown how many shots were fired by Wooten and the deputies.
"You can look at my house, and see what they've done to my house," said Janae Wooten, the suspect's mother. "We weren’t allowed to come home last night. We just got home right now and the teargas is horrible in there."
Wooten had a criminal past prior to Thursday’s standoff and shooting. Wooten’s criminal record dates back to 2014 and includes charges of marijuana possession with intent to sell, robbery and probation violation. Demings pointed out that Wooten allegedly used a gun in a recent crime.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
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