DELAND, Fla. – A driver is dead after a deputy-involved shooting in a Walmart Neighborhood Market parking lot in DeLand early Saturday morning, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators say the incident began Friday night when DeLand police tried to stop a reckless driver who nearly hit a pedestrian in downtown DeLand.
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According to the sheriff’s office, the driver took off with headlights off, ran red lights and fled west on State Road 44 while officers pursued the vehicle.
Deputies later found the vehicle around 4:30 a.m. at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on South Woodland Boulevard.
The sheriff’s office says as deputies approached, the driver accelerated and tried to flee again.
“One deputy fired a shot through the windshield, striking the driver,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a social media post Saturday morning.
Investigators say the vehicle continued a short distance through the parking lot before crashing.
The driver was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. No other injuries were reported.
As of Saturday morning, the shopping center parking lot remained closed and surrounded by crime scene tape.
A spokesperson for the Volusia Sheriff’s Office told News 6 investigators are now reviewing body camera footage and other video connected to the shooting.
“At this point I don’t expect further updates until we are able to download and review body camera + any other available footage,” the spokesperson said in a message to News 6. “It may be Monday when we put that all together and provide a more comprehensive update.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is expected to investigate the deputy-involved shooting.