HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is investigating a deputy-involved shooting that took place off Skipper Road in Tampa on Tuesday night.
At approximately 7:42 p.m. Tuesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received two 911 calls concerning a domestic-related dispute on Skipper Road. Deputies say a family dispute was happening in the parking lot, resulting in the 17-year-old suspect striking his sister. The suspect reportedly threw his mother to the ground a short time later. She suffered a minor head injury during the dispute, according to deputies.
Two deputies responded to the scene and they received live updates from the dispatcher who was on the phone with a family member of the suspect.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says some of those live updates included the following:
- "(Complainant crying) - stating someone is bleeding"
- "The brother threw her on the floor"
- "Complainant advised his 17 year-old grandson just knocked out his mother"
- "No weapons involved. Her head is bleeding"
- "Subject left on foot. Subject is a black male, black hair, wearing all red jumpsuit"
- "thinks he walked out of apt complex"
Deputy Daniel Estanislau located the suspect walking in the area became in fear for his safety due to his belief that the suspect had a gun on him. Deputy Estanislau ordered the suspect to "drop the gun, drop the gun" and then fired two rounds from his issued service weapon, hitting the 17-year-old once in the upper body. Deputies say there was no weapon found at the scene.
A formal interview with Deputy Estanislau is pending. HCSO Standard Operating Procedure 500.01(C)(h) states " this interview will take place no sooner than 24 hours after the incident and no later than 48 hours after the incident, unless the involved deputy is physically or mentally incapable, or the Shooting Investigation Team needs additional time to investigate."
Deputies provided immediate emergency medical treatment to the suspect until Fire Rescue arrived and took over treatment. The suspect is in critical but stable condition at Tampa General Hospital and his family is with him. Sheriff Chronister attempted to call the victim's mother Wednesday morning to update her personally, but she could not be reached, the Sheriff's Office says.
State Attorney Andrew Warren responded to the scene Tuesday night and his office has been involved in the investigation from its preliminary states.
Deputy Estanislau has been placed on administrative leave, per policy.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the suspect has a criminal history but due to his age, they cannot reveal the details of his arrest history. They have also received prior calls for service at the incident location but due to the suspect's age and nature of Florida public records law, they cannot reveal the details of the location history.
"I am committed to being transparent in getting accurate information to the public in a timely fashion," said Sheriff Chad Chronister.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
