SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — The Clearwater Police Department said four deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office were forced to fire their weapons in Safety Harbor on Thursday afternoon.
The shooting happened on Philippe Parkway, north of Enterprise Road in Safety Harbor.
Clearwater Police identified the suspect as 43-year-old Robert Hubbard. He died from his injuries.
According to Deputy Chief Michael Walek with the Clearwater Police Department, the suspect was responsible for a carjacking in Hillsborough County on Wednesday.
Clearwater Police said Hubbard stole a golf cart and a car at gunpoint. Hours later, he was seen waving a gun around a parking lot of a Walmart and also tried to rob a woman at gunpoint outside an Outback in Trinity.
"As part of an alert that came from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, it was mentioned that the subject was armed and dangerous and had wishes to have a shootout with law enforcement," said Walek.
On Thursday, PCSO deputies located the stolen car and Hubbard in the Clearwater area. CPD said the suspect fled from deputies, driving recklessly, to Safety Harbor, where deputies tried to stop the suspect with tire deflation devices.
"Through investigative methods, we learned about the car being in this area, the stolen car which it was a BOLO to the officers and that's when they started spotting the car in different locations. Every time they tried to stop the car, the car would take off and drive erratically," said Walek.
According to Walek, when the suspect came to a stop, he got out of the car and pointed a gun at PCSO deputies. The deputies then fired and shot the suspect.
"He got out of the car armed with a handgun, pointed both hands at the deputies at which point, the deputies fired," said Walek.
The Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force is investigating this shooting.
"As part of the investigation through the deadly task force, we are the lead agency. We are investigating this because the sheriff's office was directly involved," said Walek.
