ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A suspect is in critical condition after a stand-off and shooting with St. Pete Police overnight.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the suspect was shot once in the chest and is currently in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.
Gualtieri said officers were called to a boarding house at 215 29th Street South shortly before midnight. The caller was a woman who, along with her boyfriend and child, had come to the home to stay with the suspect, identified as Jerid Fenderson, 26.
Gualtieri said the woman knew Fenderson. She, her child and her boyfriend were transient with nowhere to stay, according to Gualtieri. Fenderson told them they could stay with him in his one-bedroom apartment in the room, according to Gualtieri.
The home is divided into six different rooms with multiple tenants.
The victims got to the home on Wednesday, and at the time, Gualtieri said Fenderson showed them that he had a gun for protection.
"They weren't concerned about it; he didn't threaten anybody with it," Gualtieri said.
Wednesday night Gualtieri said Fenderson left, and when he came back, he found the woman, her child and her boyfriend asleep in his bed.
"He came back in, got upset because they were in his bed. Made threats to them and then took the gun and pointed it at them," Gualtieri said.
The victims called St. Pete Police, left the home and met with officers a few blocks away.
Gualtieri said when officers went to the home to arrest Fenderson for aggravated assault, he came out with the gun and fired at them. One officer at that time returned fire but didn't hit Fenderson, according to Gualtieri.
Fenderson went back inside and other officers arrived at the scene. They set up a perimeter and tried to get Fenderson to come out. Gualtieri said at that time, Fenderson fired more shots inside the house.
While police spoke with Fenderson in an attempt to get him to come out, Gualtieri said he made several threats.
Around 1:30 a.m., officers called the St. Pete Police SWAT team to the scene. As SWAT was setting up, Fenderson came back outside and fired again, Gualtieri said. At that time, the SWAT team returned fire, and a sniper with the team shot Fenderson in the chest.
Fenderson went back inside after he was shot, Gualtieri said. The SWAT team went in and found him on the ground. He was taken out and given treatment before he was transported to the hospital.
Fenderson is in critical condition but is expected to survive.
Gualtieri said the investigation is still in its early stages, with dozens of witnesses and officers to interview.
Multiple people were evacuated from the home during the incident. No one else was injured, police said.
Police activated the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Task Force to investigate the shooting.
