POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A shootout with a suspect in the woods left a K-9 deputy injured on Thursday, and ended with the suspect’s death, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
During a news conference, Sheriff Grady Judd announced that the incident stems back to Monday, when 27-year-old Angel Bowers was supposed to show up to court in a case where he was accused of having “unlawful sex with a minor.”
However, Bowers failed to appear, leading a warrant being issued for his arrest, Judd explained.
This led to the bondsman trying to contact Bowers at 3895 Chart Prine Road around 9 a.m. on Thursday, Judd said, though the sheriff explained that Bowers likely shouldn’t have been staying there as a condition of his release.
[RELATED: Watch the full news conference with Grady Judd below]
“He shouldn’t have been there because there are children at that residence,” Judd stated.
When the bondsman showed up to arrest Bowers, the door locked, leading to the bondsman notifying the sheriff’s office, Judd said.
Deputies responded to the property, but they received no response even after repeatedly knocking on the door, so they left.
“The bondsman, in the meantime, who has this huge bond at risk, works with the family. And quite frankly, some of the family cooperated,” Judd continued. “The girlfriend, according to the bondsman, called and talked to Angel this afternoon, and he said, ‘I’m staying in my tent in the woods.’”
Later, deputies reportedly tracked Bowers into the woods, though shortly after they arrived at the tent, a shootout occurred, the sheriff explained.
A SWAT team later raided the tent, finding Bowers dead with a firearm in his hand, according to Judd.
He added that no deputies were hurt in the shooting, though a K-9 Deputy “Ace” was shot and critically injured. Ace was then taken to a clinic for treatment.
“It was an arterial shot,” Judd said. “Our K-9 almost bled to death before we could get him medical care. We returned fire. We shot into the tent. Angel Bowers got exactly what he asked for.”
As of the time of briefing, Judd explained that Ace was being prepared for transport to receive advanced care in Lakewood Ranches.
“He’s going to be airlifted there,” Grady Judd said. “And the reason he can be airlifted there is because the Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis signed a law allowing our four-legged deputy sheriffs and police officers to receive the same quality and level of emergency care from the scene of an event in order to save their lives.”
No additional information has been provided about Ace’s status at this time.