PALMETTO, Fla. — The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is investigating a stolen vehicle incident that ended with deputies shooting at a man Tuesday night in Palmetto, a news release explains.
At around 10 p.m., Palmetto police officers received information about a stolen vehicle, and deputies with the sheriff's office responded as backup.
When two deputies arrived on scene, they reportedly saw police with their guns pointed at a car giving verbal commands for the driver, identified as 38-year-old Randall Gray, to get out. A deputy in a marked patrol vehicle parked in front of the stolen car got out on the driver's side with their gun also drawn.
"The driver continued to ignore commands and accelerated the vehicle toward another uniformed deputy standing nearby," the agency explains in the release.
The deputy was reportedly run over by Gray while trying to get out of the way of the moving car.
This is when the agency says gunfire erupted as deputies and officers shot at the car. The stolen vehicle continued moving forward until the 38-year-old crashed into a tree about 70 yards away.
Authorities say Gray crawled out of the car and tried to run before K-9 deputies arrested him a short while later. He was taken to a local hospital for injuries to his legs and was later released.
Gray, who reportedly is a longtime convicted felon, is charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Additional charges are pending.
According to the sheriff's office, there was a passenger in the car with Gray who was uninjured and cooperative with law enforcement.
The 38-year-old was out on bond from Sumter County for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other charges at the time of the incident.
"We are very fortunate the deputy survived this unnecessary act of violence committed against him while he was simply doing his job. It's disturbing this habitual convicted felon was out on our streets and able to commit more crimes," Sheriff Rick Wells said in a statement.
The deputy who fired shots is now on routine paid administrative leave while an investigation into the shooting and an internal investigation is conducted.