SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — One man is dead after a deputy-involved shooting in Sarasota Sunday afternoon.
According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, this all started with domestic violence calls after 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. The sheriff's office said a woman called saying she woke up to her boyfriend pointing a gun at her face.
The boyfriend is 47-year-old Brian Underwood.
The sheriff's office said deputies made contact with Underwood after arriving on the scene. They asked Underwood to come out of the house, but he didn’t, SCSO said.
Deputies then asked him to go to the window and hold his hands up. He did, and he invited the deputies into the house. The female who called 911 was barricaded in the back bedroom at the time.
SCSO said deputies tried to de-escalate the situation but when they went into the house, deputies said Underwood pulled a semi-automatic firearm out.
The sheriff's office said he started to lift the gun up, and deputies fired several shots at him. Underwood died at the scene.
According to the woman, this all started with an argument she and Underwood got into Saturday night.
"This is still a very dangerous profession, and we handle these calls as professionally as we can,” said Sheriff Hoffman.
This is the second deadly domestic violence shooting involving Sarasota Sheriff’s deputies in 10 days.
“It's unfortunate that this, and the call from a few days ago ended with the suspect losing their life, but that’s the choice that they made and the deputies responded with what appears to be appropriate," said Sheriff Hoffman.
The four involved deputies and the woman who called 911 are considered victims of aggravated assault, and their identities will not be released under Marsy’s law.
