RIVERVIEW, Fla. — A man was shot and killed by Hillsborough County deputies Tuesday night during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant, the agency says.
At about 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8, deputies located Dylan Ray Scott, 27, who was wanted on felony warrants for grand theft and resisting arrest.
Scott was parked in a pickup truck in the parking lot of the McDonald's located at 11007 Bloomingdale Avenue in Riverview. Deputies say a woman was in the passenger seat of the truck.
When deputies approached the vehicle and made contact with Scott about his warrants, Scott reportedly turned on the ignition and intentionally accelerated his car over the parking lot curb, down a hill, and into traffic on Bloomingdale Avenue, colliding with a driver in a silver minivan.
As some deputies helped the injured minivan driver, other deputies talked to Scott, who refused to exit the pickup truck. Authorities say they repeatedly told him to show his hands. He told deputies multiple times that he had a gun. For the safety of his female passenger, deputies quickly escorted the woman out of the truck.
According to the sheriff's office, after several minutes of Scott ignoring orders to show his hands, Scott motioned for a gun, causing four deputies to fire shots. Scott was transported to Tampa General Hospital where he died from his injuries.
"He’s pleading with him, he tries a bunch of different techniques and tries to appeal to him on a human level and tries to reason with him assuming he’s dealing with someone who is somewhat rational," said Dave Bryant, a former Tampa Bay area police officer. "This guy is not rational."
According to an HCSO memo, Scott's mother alerted the sheriff's office in July that her son "left a note at her residence claiming he wants to die via Suicide by Cop."
"This individual chose to use that officer as the means to end his life and that’s the tragedy. The victim here is the deputy that had to use deadly force," said Bryant.
No deputies were injured during the incident. The person who was hit in the minivan was also taken to the hospital for complaints of chest pain following the accident.
"These deputies did a textbook job of trying to get this suspect to surrender himself. They pleaded with him to show his hands, stopping short of begging him not to reach for the firearm he repeatedly said he had," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "There is no perfect outcome in situations like this, but I am thankful that none of our deputies were hurt and that we were able to keep innocent citizens on the roadway safe as this situation unfolded. In the interest of openness and transparency, we are working with the FDLE as they conduct an independent investigation into this incident."
Dylan Scott's arrest history in Hillsborough County dates back to 2014 including charges of fleeing and attempting to elude police, reckless driving, resisting an officer without violence, burglary of an occupied dwelling, drug possession, resisting an officer with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer, among other charges.
As a protocol, all four deputies have been placed on administrative leave during this investigation, and the investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
Help to prevent suicide is available around the clock through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or you can dial 2-1-1 to find help through Tampa Bay Cares.
