Deputy Thoman emptied his 2nd clip into Wilder to ensure the threat was eliminated. Wilder’s weapon had apparently jammed, so he used the butt of the rifle to bash the head of Deputy Potters who sustained a broken sinus and orbital bone.ĭeputy Thoman managed to shoot Wilder as he stood over Potters beating him. As the attack on the injured deputy continued, the original deputy was able to end the threat by using deadly force and shooting Wilder.” The injured deputy was also attacked by Wilder with multiple strikes to the head with the butt of the rifle. During the exchange of gunfire, one deputy was shot in the lower leg and sustained a non-life threatening injury. ‘The investigation is still active and ongoing at this time (and) once the investigation is complete, it will be submitted to the State Attorney for review,’ the statement from the Sheriff’s Office added.The gunman was later identified as 38-year-old Paris Wilder, a career criminal with 40 previous arrests including 23 felony arrests.įrom the Brevard County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office press release: “When the suspect was asked to exit the vehicle, Wilder immediately opened the door armed with a rifle and began shooting at the deputies. Deputies returned fire in an effort to save their own lives, as well as the lives of others at the scene, which included a 2-month-old infant located in the rear of the suspect vehicle. ‘This individual had absolutely no regard for human life and was focused on only one thing – killing our deputies to avoid arrest,’ he explained. Ivey said of his death: ‘For those out there who might be foolish enough to ask why we shot him so many times, that answer is simple – because evil can never be dead enough.’ Ivey identified Wilder as a career criminal with 40 previous arrests, including 23 felony arrests for charges including robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a weapon, battery of a law enforcement officer, attempted first-degree murder and multiple narcotics offenses. Ivey said of the incident in a video posted to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department Facebook: ‘This individual had absolutely no regard for human life and was focused on only one thing – killing our deputies to avoid arrest as he knew he was facing several minimum mandatory prison sentences in his pending cases’ ![]() Thoman is then seen firing multiple rounds, killing Wilder, ‘thus eliminating the threat and saving Deputy Potter’s life,’ Ivey said. Ivey said Wilder ‘fired numerous rounds at our deputies’ and ‘used the butt of the rifle to violently and repeatedly strike Deputy Potters in the head, causing significant injuries and lacerations’. The suspect then ambushes Potters from behind, beating him with the gun and knocking him to the ground. ![]() Wilder runs towards the deputies and they try to take cover behind the sheriff’s car. ‘I’ve been hit,’ Potters shouts as Wilder starts hopping on one foot, appearing to have been shot too. Potters is then seen running away from the gunman as Wilder takes cover behind the car and continues shooting. Ivey suggested Wilder was ‘avoiding arrest as he knew he was facing several minimum mandatory prison sentences in his pending cases’. Wilder was out on bond for two felony drug charges and two active felony warrants when the shooting happened. ![]() ‘He (Potters) is immediately and without warning ambushed with a small stock AR-15-styled rifle that is pointed and fired directly at him,’ Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in the video. He was out on bond for two felony drug charges and two active felony warrants when the shooting happened. ![]() Paris Wilder (pictured) was a career criminal with 40 previous arrests.
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