BARBERVILLE, Fla. – A man was killed and a pregnant woman was injured early Tuesday during a shootout involving Volusia County Sheriff's deputies, Sheriff Ben Johnson said.
Timothy Wagner, 26, of Marion, Virginia, died in the shooting, and Shannon Murphy, 19, also from Virginia, was injured, deputies said.
The incident began as a traffic stop when Deputy William Kretzer, 51, pulled over a pickup truck for having a burned-out tail light on State Road 40, just west of County Road 3 in Barberville, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
"We do know one of the deputies walked up to it, they saw an empty holster on the male subject, and at that time they started to take more note," said Johnson. "They told the people to get their hands up. The guy got a little fidgety then he came up with the firearm, I believe it's one shot out each window at officers."
The Sheriff's Office said the pickup, a 2006 GMC, was reported stolen from an auto dealership out of Jackson County in the Florida Panhandle but Johnson said deputies didn't know that at the time of the traffic stop early Tuesday morning.
Kretzer and Deputy Daniel Sweeley, 35, who provided backup, were talking to Murphy, who was driving, when Wagner pulled out a gun and fired at both of them, the sheriff said. The deputies returned fire, hitting Wagner, according to the sheriff. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"They had no where to go," said Johnson. "One is standing on the grassy side with a ditch with nothing in between, the other was on the roadside, and they had nowhere to go. All they could do is take the defensive action of shooting. He missed, they didn't."
Murphy was hit in the shoulder by a bullet, but it's unclear who shot her, officials said.
"We don't even know if he hit her attempting to shoot my deputy or if she was hit in the crossfire, we don't know," said Johnson.
Murphy was airlifted to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, and was cooperating with the investigation, officials said.
The deputies were not injured in the shootout but Johnson said they nearly lost their lives.
"Our officers reverted to their training, they eliminated the subject, they eliminated the threat," said Johnson. "They did what was right. This individual tried to kill my law officers! He got what they deserved for trying to kill these law enforcement officers."
Investigators said two guns were recovered from inside the truck.
Facebook postings show a Shannon Murphy from southwest Virginia who works at Pizza Hut and updated her cover picture with an ultrasound photo on September 14. She tagged a Jim C. Wagner in a photo on January 27. Both Murphy and Wagner's Facebook pages have the same profile picture - the 2 of them kissing. Wagner's page shows he worked at Home Depot.
Kretzer and Sweeley were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in shootings.
Kretzer was hired by the agency in October 2002, and Sweeley was hired in November 2011.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.