OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released part of the body camera video showing the moments leading up to a deputy shooting and killing a 16-year-old shoplifting suspect at a Poinciana Walmart.
The shooting happened Thursday evening at 904 Cypress Parkway in Poinciana.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy, who was working off-duty at the Walmart for security, was notified by a loss-prevention officer of three people who “had concealed merchandise.”
The deputy, along with the loss-prevention officer, approached the three people before one of them — identified as 16-year-old Jairus Eroge Jones, of Poinciana — took off running with a gun in his hand, according to Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon.
[Watch the video released by the sheriff’s office below]
“And with that said, our deputy fired downrange at the suspect and took him out,” Blackmon said. “(The suspect) had a gun in his hand, running through the store.”
Video released by the sheriff’s office shows several seconds of the deputy running after Jones, who is seen holding a gun in his hand as he is running in the store.
“Drop it, drop it,” the deputy is heard yelling before the video ends.
[WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE BELOW]
The sheriff’s office said it did not release the full body camera video and cited Florida law preventing the public release of video depicting the death of a minor.
The two other subjects with Jones — a juvenile and a man in his 20s — fled from the store but were later “identified and accounted for” on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office. They were not arrested.
No other injuries were reported.
OCSO Public Information Officer Kim Montes told News 6 that an off-duty firefighter and another off-duty law enforcement officer were at the scene and provided the responding deputy with cover.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating this deputy-involved shooting, per procedure. The deputy was identified Tuesday as Terrence Blackmon, who has been employed since January 2022, has been placed on standard administrative leave.
“Because FDLE is investigating this Officer Involved Shooting, the Osceola Sheriff’s Office will not be releasing any additional information regarding the shooting at this time,” sheriff’s officials said Friday.
Walmart’s internal rules for dealing with suspected shoplifters once placed strict limits on how far its own employees could go — and repeatedly emphasized backing off and calling police when situations turned dangerous.
[WATCH BELOW: Walmart’s past shoplifting policy stressed restraint, safety over confrontation]