CLEARWATER, Fla. — What started as a welfare check early Wednesday led to Clearwater police shooting and killing a man after they said the suspect ambushed them with gunfire. 

  • Clearwater police shoot, kill suspect that fired shots at them
  • Man identified as Wayne Falana Jr.
  • 1 officer suffered minor injury
  • Police had responded to location to check on a woman

One officer suffered minor injuries.

At a morning news conference, the suspect was identified as Wayne Falana Jr., 35.

According to police, the situation unfolded at an apartment at 1444 Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard just after 2 a.m. 

Officers responded to a location after a call about a woman's social media post. 

When officers arrived to check on the woman, she answered the door. After a brief conversation between her and officers, Falana opened fire from behind her. 

As those officers scrambled for cover, Falana took off running out of the apartment, according to police. The man continued shooting outside of the apartment until police returned fire, killing him. Four officers shot at Falana, according to Police Chief Dan Slaughter.

Slaughter said it was fair to say that the attempt on the officers was an "ambush."

"We definitely think ambush is an appropriate word to consider at this point," he said.

Meanwhile, as the shots were being fired, the woman inside the apartment left the scene. She has been identified as Annie Vann, 33. Vann was sought for several hours but showed up at the police department Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Witness Bill Shea said the incident woke him up.

"I heard what initially I thought was a string of firecrackers going off, and it woke me up," Shea said. "But because of my military background, I realized that was small arms fire."

The injured officer, identified as Thomas Dawe, had a bullet strike his boot. He was treated at the scene. 

Slaughter said Falana had a lengthy criminal history.

"We're grateful that our officers were not hurt. We’re grateful at this time that we don’t have any other citizens that were hurt," he said.

Spectrum Bay News 9 reporter Jason Lanning contributed to this story.