A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed after he tried to drive through a large crowd and sped toward an officer in a stolen Camaro early Wednesday morning, Lakeland police said.
Lakeland Police Chief Larry Giddens said officers were forced to shoot at the vehicle near Salem’s Gyros & More restaurant in Lakeland where a crowd of about 200 people was gathered because they feared for their lives.
Giddens said the Michael Taylor, 17, hit multiple parked cars and a light pole in the parking lot trying to drive away from police. Then the driver ended up ramming into a parked vehicle and hitting it so hard it was knocked through a block wall, investigators said.
A woman in the passenger's seat of the vehicle got out and told officers there was a firearm in the vehicle, officers said.
First aid was given to the driver on the scene but he later died at the hospital, according to Giddens.
No officers were injured, investigators said.
Giddens said the officers will be placed on paid administrative leave while the case is under investigation.
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