PINELLAS PARK (Bay News 9) -- A man was killed following a shootout with officers Saturday night, police said.
According to reports, police officers responded to a 911 call at the Shadow Run Apartments on Belcher Road. The dispatcher said the man, later identified as 44-year-old Dallas Dwayne Carter, indicated that he was armed with a .40 caliber handgun and that his two boys, ages 8 and 13, were in bed. When the dispatcher asked for more information, Carter ended the phone call.
Officers said that when they arrived at the building, they tried to make contact with Carter through his cell phone, but all of their calls when to his voice mail. Police said that, when a crisis negotiator was brought in to talk to Carter using a bullhorn, he began shooting a handgun and a rifle in all directions.
Investigators said they later found that at least 30 rounds of ammunition were fired by the suspect, and that most of those bullets hit other buildings and walls in the area.
The police report states that, a few minutes later, the two boys ran from the apartment and were rescued by officers in the breezeway of the building. Meanwhile, the suspect continued to yell and fire rounds at the officers from within the apartment.
Thirty minutes after the officers arrived on the scene, the three officers said Carter came through the front door of his apartment and pointed both guns at them. They said that they ordered him to drop his weapons, and that when he refused, they responded by shooting Carter. Investigators said they fired a total of 10 rounds.
Carter was pronounced dead on the scene.
Officers said the initial investigation found that Carter was suffering from health and financial issues. They said he left a note in the apartment.
The shooting is being investigated by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office. The Internal Affairs unit will also be investigating, as will the Criminal Investigations Section.
The three officers involved are being placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.