Daytona Beach police shoot armed robbery suspect at Walgreens pharmacy, police say

Officer-involved shooting reported at store on Ridgewood Avenue

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach police officers shot an armed robbery suspect at a Walgreen's store Tuesday afternoon after the suspect walked into the store and demanded drugs and money, police officials said.

Daytona Beach Police Deputy Chief Jakari Young said when officers arrived at the store near West International Speedway Boulevard and South Ridgewood Avenue, Louis Curler was armed with a rifle and behind the counter of the pharmacy. He had demanded drugs and money from pharmacy workers, Young said.

Martha Quinones, with Career Source, was training a cashier inside the store when the incident unfolded.

"We didn't know if it was a staff or a customer that said, 'He's got a gun he's got a rifle.'" Quinones said. "That's all you should hear, 'Get out,' he's telling you to 'Get out' and we got out and we came in front of the store and we just started praying."

Young said when officers arrived, Curler had taken some narcotics.

About 10 people were inside the convenience store at the time of the incident, including a pharmacist and two technicians who were behind the counter.

Curler, 41, was ordered to show his hands and did not comply, police said. He started walking toward employees when Daytona Beach police officers fired at Curler, hitting him once in the back.
No one else was injured, police said.

Police could not identify the exact type of weapon Curler had but said he had two full magazines.

"This could have turned out a whole lot differently. I'm just counting my blessings, he could have came in, opened fire and we could have been dealing with multiple casualties today and luckily everyone seems to be OK, at least physically," Young said.

News 6 spokes to Quinones right after she had spoken to her daughter about the scare.

"She's my only kid and today could have been different," she said. "It just hit me."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story reported that the suspect was shooting "at drugs," this story has been corrected to reflect that police said Curler was "shooting up" drugs, not shooting at the pharmacy counter.