ISLAMORADA (CBSMiami) – A man in Islamorada was shot and killed Friday after authorities say he fired his gun at deputies.
According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call of shots fired around 1 pm at 118 Bayview Isles Drive in the Venetian Shores Subdivision of Islamorada.
Upon arrival, authorities said a witness on scene named the suspect behind the house with a gun as 73-year-old Robert Parlette, Jr.
Officers walked behind the house and Parlette, according to authorities, fired his gun at them. Authorities fired back, hitting Parlette in the chest.
Parlette was transported to Mariner’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
ISLAMORADA — Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay says his officers were correct in returning fire and killing an Islamorada man who was wielding a handgun last Friday afternoon. It was the first killing of a suspect by a deputy since the 1960s.
Deputy Luis Gomez was one of the first officers to respond to a shots fired call at 118 Bayview Isles Drive in Venetian Shores.
As Gomez approached Robert Parlette Jr. in the home’s canalside backyard, the 73-year-old opened fire on the deputy with a .45 caliber handgun, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Gomez returned fire with a fatal shot to Parlette’s chest.
Gomez was placed on paid leave for a few days and offered counseling but that shouldn’t be misconstrued as disciplinary action, Ramsay said.
“As far as we’re concerned, this was a very clean shoot and an open-and-shut case,” the sheriff said. “We don’t feel he did anything wrong and want him OK and back on the streets.
State investigators said Wednesday the shooting death of an armed Islamorada man by a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy was justified and no criminal charges will be filed.
Monroe County Chief Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga reviewed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s final report of the incident and came to the same conclusion as those investigators: Deputy Luis Gomez reacted reasonably and with appropriate use of force when he shot Robert Parlette Jr. on Oct. 25.
“It was reasonable for the officer to have apprehension that his life and the lives of others were at risk based on the suspect firing his handgun in the presence of the officer and in the officer’s direction,” Madruga said. “There were numerous verbal commands for him to drop the weapon, and instead of de-escalating the situation, the suspect escalated the situation and fired.”
Madruga added there were shots fired before deputies arrived on scene, and that Parlette’s wife had already fled the scene in fear of her life.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/10/25/man-dead-in-police-involved-shooting-in-islamorada/
http://keysnews.com/node/50898
http://keysnews.com/node/54260
http://www.local10.com/news/mcso-man-killed-after-shooting-at-deputies/22638434
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