PINE HILLS, Fla. – A deputy on Monday morning shot a man who had just stabbed the mother of his child in Pine Hills and refused to put down his weapon, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Gabriel Ortiz was responding to an unrelated call at 10:12 a.m. about bullet holes in a vehicle in the 4900 block of Karl Lane when he heard a woman screaming and ran toward the cries, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
Ortiz found Maurice A. Johnson, 21, and a 20-year-old woman involved in a domestic altercation at a home at 5007 Karl Lane. Officials said it was obvious to the deputy that the woman, who is the mother of Johnson's child, had just been stabbed.
Johnson was shot after refusing to put down the knife he was holding, Demings said.
"In this case, it is clear to me that the deputy was in the right place at the right time. More than likely, if that deputy had not been two doors down or so, that woman may not have survived this incident," Demings said.
The woman is in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Johnson also suffered life-threatening injuries, deputies said. He's in critical but stable condition at ORMC.
Demings said Johnson and the victim are not married and do not live together. The stabbing was reported in the home of one of the woman's relatives.
This knife was used by a 21 yo suspect to stab the mother of his child, when D/S Ortiz fired his weapon to save her life. Both are alive. pic.twitter.com/xdIs4J8uRK
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) April 10, 2017
The victim's brother, Kennis McGlon, said he's always had a bad feeling about Johnson, but Monday's incident was the first time he's been violent toward McGlon's younger sister.
"I feel like this whole situation is stupid. I feel like it should have never even took place, that's how I feel," McGlon said. "I've been saying that this boy has been bad from day one, but hey, what do I know? I'm just an older brother."
McGlon said he and his family are trying to stay calm and do what is necessary to take care of his younger sister and her infant daughter.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct an investigation into the deputy-involved shooting, which is standard protocol. Ortiz has been placed on administrative reassignment for at least a week.
Demings said Ortiz is doing "remarkably well" at the sheriff's office and is also a SWAT team member.
He added that domestic violence situations are particularly dangerous for law enforcement officers and he believes Ortiz reacted appropriately.
“In this case, I don’t believe there was anything else that Deputy Ortiz could have done to prevent the situation. He didn’t create it, he simply responded to it. He’s fortunate today that he wasn’t also assaulted as a result of this,” Demings said.
Johnson will be charged with first-degree attempted murder domestic, officials said.
News of the deputy-involved shooting came after a particularly deadly weekend in the Orange County neighborhood. Three people were killed Saturday in two separate incidents.
The first happened at 3:22 a.m. outside Caribbean Unity Center on Silver Star Road. Authorities said two people were fatally shot after an altercation in the club, officials said.
One man fatally shot another outside Royal Place Apartments around 11 a.m., authorities said.
Deputies are seeking witnesses in both incidents.
Demings said even after this weekend's shootings and Monday's stabbing, crime in Pine Hills is down 18 percent in the past year.
"I will meet with staff, we will look at our efforts here in the Pine Hills area and look and see if we can continue to reduce the level of violence in this community," Demings said. "Circumstances like this today, that is something that occurs by free choice from the individual and that's something that it takes really more than law enforcement to handle."