Key West, FL - A Key West man in jail for shooting a sheriff's deputy in the chest Oct. 24 claims police shot first, according to the first ...
Key West, FL - A Key West man in jail for shooting a sheriff's deputy in the chest Oct. 24 claims police shot first, according to the first police report in the case released Thursday. In addition, Timothy Thomas, 25, apparently tried to carjack a car after he ran away after crashing the Mustang he was driving. In the shootout, he was shot in the back and a shoulder. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office provided portions of two videos of the shootout near 3rd Avenue and Sunshine Street on Stock Island, one from the police-car dashcam of Deputy Josh Gordon, who was shot in the chest but saved by his bulletproof vest; the other from the dashcam of Deputy David Lariz, who was with him. Thomas, who is in the Stock Island jail with no bond allowed, is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, four felony counts of possessing a weapon as a convicted felon, one felony count of property damage of more than $1,000, one felony count of burglary and two misdemeanor counts of altering a firearm serial number. Thomas surrendered at 1711 Von Phister St. in Key West on Oct. 25 after local, state and federal authorities surrounded the house he was in. Police were on the lookout for Thomas because he was the suspect in an Oct. 5 armed robbery of an attorney near Key West High School at Flagler Avenue. The school was locked down while police searched for him but he wasn't found. Shortly after Thomas' arrest, David Dwanne Gray, 27, his cousin, was arrested at the Von Phister house. He faces felony charges including cocaine possession, marijuana possession and drug trafficking. He was expected to be questioned in connection with Thomas' arrest. Less