PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Chilling moments captured on body camera video show the ending of a chase-turned-shootout that left a Pinellas County deputy injured and a 23-year-old man dead.
The video was released Thursday morning by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri during a news conference. The video, which was blurred and edited by the agency, provides added context to the timeline of the shooting the sheriff's office previously released.
The shooting, which the state attorney's office later ruled justified, happened on March 12. Sergeant Jacob Viano and K-9 Corporal Matthew Aitken, with K-9 Taco, were chasing 23-year-old Zion Bostick, who was accused of trying to break into several cars.
Bostick reportedly ran behind a local church and continued through the woods into a Pinellas Park neighborhood, located in the area of 60th Avenue North and 64th Street North. That's when Aitken and Taco, assisted by Viano, began to track him.
Body camera shows the moment when Taco alerted Aitken he had gotten a possible lead on Bostick on the other side of a tall fence.
Taco scaled the fence with Aitken right behind him. Aitken's body camera shows Taco almost immediately start moving toward a house, then you can hear Aitken yelling for someone to put their hands up as he and Taco start running toward the building.
Shots are fired, and Aitken goes down.
Gualtieri explains Taco had spotted Bostick hiding behind the corner of a home. Bostick then ducked back behind the home, leading Aitken and Taco to assume a pursuit. But it was an ambush, the sheriff said. Bostick, instead of doing what many criminals do and run away, Gualtieri said, waited behind the house with his gun in his hand and began shooting at Aitken.
Aitken was shot in the neck, hand and leg and "immediately" went down, the sheriff said.
From Viano's body camera, you can see just after Aitken and Taco go over the fence, he tried to go around the fence for a moment before quickly deciding to also scale the fence, too. That moment of hesitation, Gualtieri said, may have been exactly what kept both officers alive.
The sheriff explained it gave Viano enough time to get over the fence and get to the ground when Bostick turned his gun from Aitken to Viano. After several shots were fired by Bostick, Viano was able to return fire, ultimately shooting the fatal shot that killed Bostick.
Gualtieri added Aitken had not and didn't want to see the video footage of the shooting. The sheriff added the agency would not release the raw video due to the graphic nature of some parts. This includes video of deputies and first responders giving CPR and live-saving aid to Aitken at the scene.
Both the sheriff, sergeant and corporal all credited K-9 Taco as also being an integral part of finding Bostick and distracting him enough for Viano to return fire.
"This is where things lined up for the good guys, in some good and unexplainable way. . . a significant factor and hero in saving Corporal Aitkens' life and allowing Sergeant Viano to avoid being shot is K-9 Taco," Gualtieri said. "K-9 handlers train a lot with their dogs for the gunshot scenario but one never really knows how the K9 is going to react in a real situation.
"Here, K-9 Taco reacted exactly how he was trained and upon Corporal Aitken being shot, K-9 Taco immediately engaged Bostick."
Aitken said he is recovering and hopes to be back on the job in about six months. He and Taco will be reunited Friday, he added.
You can watch the full news conference below. Please note the sheriff's office video shows the moment Bostick fell to the ground after being fatally shot. While the images are blurred, please use caution.