An armed robbery suspect was shot by police after pursuit on U.S. 1 in Keys, cops said
A man was airlifted to a Miami Hospital on Saturday after police shot him multiple times in the Lower Florida Keys following an armed robbery and then a pursuit up U.S. 1, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting happened at mile marker 10 on Big Coppitt Key at about 4 p.m., said Adam Linhardt, the spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Julian Vaughn Thomas, 24, of Tennessee, was later identified as the suspect by Key West police, who said he committed an armed robbery outside the county library’s branch before taking off in a car and refusing to stop.
Thomas went up to a man who was talking on his cell phone outside the library, 700 Fleming St., and pointed a handgun at him while demanding the phone, according to a preliminary police report.
The phone’s owner said he was sitting outside the library when a car quickly came to a stop outside the library and the gunman got out and approached him, police said.
Thomas took off in a silver Ford Focus with Louisiana plates, police said. He would not stop when Key West police tried to pull him over and continued to drive through Key West “obeying all traffic laws and signals,” the report states.
Thomas was driving north on U.S. 1 at 3:16 p.m. when a Monroe deputy spotted on Stock Island a Ford sedan that matched a “be-on-the-lookout” description sent by Key West Police after the armed robbery.
The deputy tried to make a traffic stop, but Thomas would not comply, police said.
Deputies, who are not permitted to engage in high-speed chases in the Keys, laid down spike strips to pop the Ford’s tires.
“He wouldn’t stop,” Linhardt said. “And FHP got involved.”
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The Ford only stopped when a state trooper used a “Precision Immobilization Technique,” or PIT, to make contact with the suspect’s car in order to force him to stop.
The sheriff’s office does not employ the PIT method.
After he was stopped, Thomas then brandished a handgun and fired at least once at officers, who returned fire, Linhardt said.
“Multiple officers returned fire and began performing first aid when he went down,” Linhardt said.
The handgun Thomas used on police was located inside the Ford sedan, Linhardt said.
On Saturday night, Sheriff Rick Ramsay said the police shooting appears to be justified.
“The use of force in this case, like all cases of this nature, will be independently investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and reviewed by the State Attorney,” said Ramsay. “That said, with the information I have at this point, this appears to be an appropriate use of force by the officers involved.”
It is not immediately clear how many officers opened fire, or for which agency — the sheriff’s office, FHP or both — they work, Linhardt said.
There were no other injuries reported.
The incident severely backed up traffic on U.S. 1 in the Lower Keys. Traffic was shut down in both directions at mile marker 10 following the shooting.
This story was originally published July 18, 2020 at 5:37 PM.
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