Sheriff: Man wounded after shootout with Florida deputy

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A man who had been driving a stolen pickup truck was wounded Wednesday afternoon following a shootout with a deputy near a Florida shopping centre, authorities said.

Deputies had been searching for a Toyota Tundra that had been reported stolen in Pennsylvania earlier this week when a deputy spotted the truck at the Sawgrass Village Shopping Center in Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar said during a news conference. When the deputy approached the truck, the man inside fired several shots, and the deputy returned fire, officials said.

The man locked himself inside the truck, while authorities secured the area and posted warnings on social media for everyone in the area to shelter in place, officials said. A SWAT team responded and took the man into custody after a brief standoff, Shoar said.

The man suffered potentially life-threatening wounds, though Shoar said he was not sure if the man had been hit by the deputy or shot himself. No deputies or civilians were injured.

Authorities did not immediately identify the suspect or the deputy. They said the suspect was a white man in his 20s. They did not release the race of the deputy.