PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — A Pinellas Park police officer shot and killed an armed man while responding to an overnight domestic dispute, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reports.
It happened just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at a home on 94th Avenue near 50th Street in Pinellas Park.
Deputies said a woman, fearing for her safety, called 911 after getting into a verbal fight with her boyfriend, 36-year-old Jared Rudderham. Police arrived to find Rudderham in the backyard of his girlfriend's home, where she lived with her grandmother.
Pinellas Park Police Corporal Graham Fox spotted what he believed to be a phone in Rudderham's hands as other responding officers went to the other side of the home to make contact with him.
That's when Rudderham pulled a semi-automatic Glock 19 pistol from his waistband and began racking it while turning toward Officer Cameron Williams, according to the sheriff's office.
In response, Officer Williams fired, shooting Rudderham four times, detectives said.
Rudderham was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. No officers were injured.
The Use of Deadly Force Task Force at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting, as is protocol in these situations.
The sheriff's office said Rudderham had a lengthy criminal history, including charges for burglary, aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.