Trooper injured, suspect dead in Cocoa-area shooting
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is recovering from a non-life-threatening injury today after a deadly shootout at a Cocoa-area gas station that left a teen shooter fatally wounded in a pickup truck.
The confrontation took place at around 7:40 p.m. Sunday at the Pilot gas station at 4445 West King Street in the unincorporated area of Cocoa near the intersection of Interstate 95 and West King Street, officials told FLORIDA TODAY.
A teenage girl, believed to be the driver, is in custody and it is not yet known if charges will be filed.
The trooper, a longtime veteran of the highway patrol who has overseen dozens of traffic homicides and training of troopers in Brevard County "is recovering from a single gunshot wound at an undisclosed location," said Sgt. Kim Montes, spokeswoman for the highway patrol.
Authorities say the trooper suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder area and has since been released from the undisclosed hospital.
Brevard County Sheriff's Office deputies and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators are expected to attend the unidentified teen's autopsy today. They will begin piecing together information about what led to Brevard's fourth deadly officer-related shooting to take place this year.
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Investigators will also work to determine the number of shots fired at the scene and look at the motive of why the teen shooter – believed to be from the South Brevard area – shot at the trooper.
Sheriff's office investigators report that the trooper spotted what appeared to be an equipment violation on a red pickup truck at the gas station and had walked over to talk to the driver.
"From my understanding it wasn't a traffic stop, the trooper had just gone over to make them aware of the problem," said Cpl. David Jacobs, spokesman for the sheriff's office. "One of the people in the truck got out and engaged the trooper."
The trooper managed to return fire as the truck lurched forward, striking the back window of the vehicle at least once. The teen shooter, a passenger in the vehicle, was struck at least once while in the truck. He died in the vehicle.
The unidentified teen girl driving the truck may have attempted to drive off but struck another vehicle at the scene.
Dozens of patrol cars swarmed the area and shut off King Street as agents and investigators converged on the scene. The red pickup truck was roped off with crime scene tape.
The trooper will be placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure for law enforcement personnel involved in a shooting.
The Pilot gas station, which typically serves larger trucks, is open for business and roads in the area have been reopened.
Jacobs said the incident was a sobering reminder of the work law enforcement officers do for the public.
"At the end of the day, all of us just want to go home to our families," Jacobs said. "The sheriff is adamant that our law enforcement officers do an extremely good job. He also made the point that if you're going to target our law enforcement officers, we're going to end the fight."
This is the fourth deadly police-related shooting to take place in Brevard County this year and the eight overall officer-involved shooting since December.