March 6, 2009
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

SHERIFF'S DEPUTY COMES UNDER FIRE NEAR DELAND

A Volusia County Sheriff's deputy escaped injury late Thursday night when he came under fire while investigating a car break-in. The shooting began after a resident on West Lisbon Parkway just south of DeLand called the Sheriff's Office at 11:23 p.m. to report a car burglary. While it's unclear whether anything was taken, the resident called after noticing that the car door and glove compartment were open.

The first responding deputy, Justin Stewart, arrived on the scene at 11:29 p.m. and spotted a possible suspect walking nearby, in the vicinity of South Delaware Avenue and West New Hampshire Avenue. During the investigation, the suspect broke free from deputy Stewart and ran a short distance, then turned towards the deputy, pulled out a gun and fired at him. The bullet missed the deputy, who returned fire to defend himself. It's not known whether the suspect was wounded, but he ran from the scene and managed to elude capture.

Deputies continued their search for the suspect from the ground and air, but as of 2 a.m., he had not been located.