ORLANDO, Fla. – A 28-year-old man who was shot dead by Orlando police Monday night was carrying an Airsoft gun, according to authorities.
Orlando police said Eric Provost died at Florida Hospital East after the shooting, which occurred around 7:20 p.m. at the Courtney Landing Condominiums off Lee Vista Boulevard near Semoran Boulevard.
The Orlando Police Department said two officers went to the condos after Provost's father called authorities to report that his son was acting strange. Police said Provost's father was not with his son but had been talking to him on the phone.
"We received a 911 call from the suspect’s father, and he basically said that his son wasn’t acting right," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. "(He said) that something was wrong, that (his son) may have been injured (or) that possibly someone was breaking in to his apartment. He really didn’t know what was happening at his son’s condo."
Mina said a 911 dispatcher called Provost, who told them nothing was wrong after hesitating.
The officers went to the condos and encountered a man who had a gun and ordered him to drop it, Mina said. The officers then opened fire, striking the man, later identified as Provost, police said.
Mina said Tuesday that Provost did not fire his Airsoft gun.
“I’m sure you’ve all seen those simulated firearms before. They look real and (they're) impossible for our officers to determine that," Mina said. "They put their own lives at risk and put the lives of other citizens at risk (if they) hesitate. You know, I want my officers to go home at the end of the day, and in this case, they did.”
Orlando police said the officers involved in the shooting have both been with the department five and 10 years, respectively.
"These things happen in the blink of an eye," Mina said. "Our officers have to make split-second decisions."
Police said that moments after officers shot Provost, another man, identified as a military veteran, emerged with a gun. He complied when officers ordered him to drop his weapon, police said.
Court documents show Provost was arrest by Orange County Sheriff's Deputies on Jan. 8 on felony grand theft charges.
In documents, Provost allegedly noticed an unlocked ATM outside of a Bank of America on East Colonial on New Years Day. Deputies said that Provost returned to the ATM twice in about an hour period, covering his face and walking away with about $88,000 in cash.
Mina said that the two responding officers on Monday evening were unaware of his prior arrest.
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