PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (WFLA) — A Pinellas Park officer shot a suspect Tuesday morning after he pulled a firearm on police, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at around 12:40 a.m., officers with the Pinellas Park Police Department responded to a domestic situation at a home on 94th Avenue North.
According to the sheriff, a woman who lived at the home with her grandmother called the police after her boyfriend — Jared Daniel Rudderham, 36, of St. Petersburg — showed up in their backyard.
“They were concerned for their safety because of his actions being in the backyard of the house, yelling,” he said. “It was a verbal domestic situation.”
Gualtieri said while two officers spoke with the woman to get information, another corporal saw the suspect in the backyard as he walked along the property line.
Up to this point, Rudderham did not appear to have a firearm and only had a cell phone in his hand, the sheriff said. However, this changed when the officers tried to speak to him.
“As [the officers] went into the backyard through the fenced area on the west side, the suspect took a Glock semi-automatic model 19 handgun from his waistband,” Gualtieri said.
The sheriff said the officers saw Rudderham pull out the firearm and put a bullet in the chamber before turning toward a K9 officer, identified as Officer Cameron Williams.
Before the suspect fired, Williams fired his own gun four times and hit the suspect, according to Gualtieri. The suspect was taken to Bayfront Medical Center where he died.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Rudderham had an extensive criminal history including “burglary, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting arrest without violence, DUI, aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon, improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon, false imprisonment, criminal mischief, possession of marijuana,
disorderly conduct, and domestic battery.”
No officers were injured in the incident.
This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
