According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office two deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were shot after midnight ( 12:22 am) on Saturday April 27th. The shooting occurred while deputies were patrolling Hunt Fountain Park, just off Duff Rd. According to Sheriff Grady Judd, had extra patrols in the North Lakeland area because there has been an increase in burglaries.
Deputies noticed a “suspicious” man sitting in his car after the parks closing hours (a search produced the operating hours between 5am and 10pm. When deputies tried to ask him why he was there and get him out of the car, he started shooting.
Deputy Smith has four gunshot wounds and Deputy Anderson was shot in the arm, and the bullet went into his chest, said Sheriff Judd. Deputy Anderson is in critical but stable condition and Deputy Smith is stable condition in the intensive care unit, said Judd.
The man in the car was a Moorish sovereign citizen and they have the reputation of resisting government, Judd said.
Deputies ended up shooting and killing the man.
“We killed him graveyard dead,” Judd said.
Sheriff Judd advised they were not identifying the suspect as they are still notifying next of kin.
This is a developing story and we will update more details when they are made available.
