VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Volusia sheriff’s deputy whose body camera saved his life when he was shot twice while investigating a case in Deltona was released Wednesday morning from the hospital.
Deputy Jose Rivera was shot in the shoulder and thigh Monday evening when 31-year-old Luis Diaz Polanco fired at him multiple times, according to sheriff’s officials. One of those shots had ricocheted off Rivera’s deputy-issued body camera video through his shoulder.
[SEE BELOW: Bodycam takes direct hit as Volusia deputy is shot twice during battery investigation, sheriff says]
Rivera was discharged from Halifax Health before he took a ride in the Volusia Sheriff’s Office’s helicopter to Dewey O. Boster Park in Deltona, where Volusia officials, deputies and more awaited his arrival.
Chitwood said that Rivera had previously put in a memo requesting to take a ride in Air One. Rivera told the sheriff that he didn’t expect to be riding in the helicopter after he submitted the memo “strapped to a stretcher on my back, staring at the ceiling,” Chitwood said.
“Being at the hospital and watching him go out there and see all of those cops from Daytona, my deputies, Halifax security, all of the nurses, made me say to myself, ‘We could be doing something very different today,” as opposed to saying, “What a great day that this young man is going home.”
Rivera will continue recovering at home, according to officials.
[WATCH BELOW: Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood speaks after deputy released from hospital]
According to Chitwood, an altercation occurred earlier Monday between Polanco and a “young lady,” who was there to pick up the suspect’s mother to go to work. During the altercation, Polanco began damaging the woman’s car.
Rivera along with his trainee, Deputy Gomez Lopez, later arrived to Polanco’s home on Candler Drive and when they knocked on the door, Polanco came out holding a box before quickly reentering the home and shutting the door, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff showed body camera video of the encounter, which showed Polanco open the door again and fire multiple times at the deputy. The exchange of gunfire happened at a distance of about 6 feet, Chitwood said. Rivera fired four to six rounds, and investigators believe Polanco fired a similar number of gunshots.
[SEE THE BODY CAMERA VIDEO BELOW]
The sheriff said Polanco told detectives he had every intention of shooting deputies and would have killed them if he had not run out of ammunition.
Neighbors told News 6 that Rivera didn’t just take cover after the gunfire.
Lou Massino, a mail carrier, said his mother lives just a few doors down from where the shooting happened. He said Rivera knocked on her door shortly after being shot.
“She sees it’s an officer, so she answers, and the guy’s bleeding from his arm and his leg, and he says, ‘Stay in the house.’ Once he got down to the end of the driveway, she saw other police, ambulance, helicopter,” Massino said.
Massino said he first heard about the shooting during a meeting at work involving the postal carrier who delivers to that street.
“One of the carriers I know, John, the guy flicked a cigarette at him, and I guess he just kind of took off like this guy is crazy, you know? Then, after that, I guess he called the police,” Massino said.
[SEE PREVIOUS COVERAGE BELOW]
The gun used in this case was legally purchased by someone in Sanford, Chitwood stated, though investigators are still trying to figure out how it got into Polanco’s hands.
According to court records, Polanco was previously arrested in 2023 and 2024 on charges of leaving the scene of a crash and battery on a person 65 years of age or older. He pleaded no contest in the crash case, and charges were dropped in the battery case.
Chitwood also said Polanco had previously been arrested after pointing a firearm at someone on July 4 in Sanford.
Polanco faces two counts of attempted murder.