BRANDON, Fla. — Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister says it was by the "grace of God" that no one was hurt after a man suffering from a mental health crisis opened fire along East Brandon Boulevard Thursday.
Deputies responded to a car wash along the busy roadway around 12:48 p.m. where Daniel Lighty, 35, was reported to be firing a gun.
The first deputy on scene arrived within moments of the sheriff's office 911 call center receiving several calls, according to Chronister.
When she arrived, the sheriff, says a bullet struck her cruiser and hit just behind the front seat on the passenger side — but it did not stop the deputy.
She and two other deputies who responded to the scene continued their charge toward Lighty, according to Chronister. The sheriff added that once the trio was spotted by the gunman he began to fire several shots at them.
While attempting to bring Lighty into custody, the sheriff's office says he fired so many shots that he had to reload his gun before continuing to fire. Chronister says one of the responding deputies fired their service weapon to try to "stop him" but was unsuccessful.
According to the sheriff, Lighty stopped "creating chaos" along the busy road once he ran out of bullets. The 35-year-old is said to have then returned to his car and dialed 911.
During the call, the sheriff's office says Lighty expressed that "he was irate" about mental health treatment he recently received at a local hospital. A crisis negotiator stepped in on the call and was able to eventually convince Lighty to step out of the car without the gun and with his hands up.
“Everyone knows I’m the biggest advocate when it comes to mental health treatment and getting those individuals in our community the help that you need,” Chronister said. “But that certainly, not for a fraction of a moment, justifies what this individual did here today by trying to murder three of our deputies that were doing nothing but trying to protect our community.”
The sheriff's office says this is the first time any of their deputies have come in contact with Lighty. They believe he recently moved from South Carolina and has not been in the area long.
Chronister says it is unclear what Lighty's background is but did note that he was "proficient enough with a firearm."
The Lighty's girlfriend is said to be the one who alerted deputies to his mental health crisis after seeing him on Facebook live walking around the parking lot and talking to customers.
During that Facebook live, Lighty was approached by an employee of the car wash asking him to leave the private property because they were receiving complaints. A back-and-forth ensues and there's a mention of the cops being called before the video cuts off.
That employee is Laz Hernandez, who tells 10 Tampa Bay that a woman approached him saying "some guy was acting real crazy in the parking lot."
According to Hernandez, while the two were interacting, Lighty pulled a gun out and aimed it at his chest before pointing it next to his head and firing off a shot.
"Listen, brother, you don’t wanna go to jail for anything like this," Hernandez says he told Lighty.
That's when things escalated.
"I told my coworker, I said 'bro, this guy is dangerous. Call the police, get everything.' And then behind me I just hear 'boom, boom' and start hearing him pull off shots. I don’t know if he was shooting in the air or where he was shooting. I wasn’t about to turn around and find out," Hernandez said.
Deputies are conducting interviews with witnesses to better understand what led up to the incident.
“This individual has no business having a firearm until they can get healthy,” Chronister said. “…The fact that an unhealthy individual has a firearm is what we witnessed here today.”
The sheriff's office says Lighty faces several charges, including three counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
You can watch the full press conference below: