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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Marion County deputy shoots and kills drug offender after violent confrontation

A Marion County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man who became violent with him outside a Citra rehabilitation facility Thursday afternoon.

According to a sheriff’s office report, deputies were called to the Phoenix House Rehabilitation Facility at 15681 N U.S. Hwy. 301 after a drug offender suddenly left the facility. It was a violation of the man’s court-mandated parole, so a probation and parole officer requested assistance from the sheriff’s office in locating and taking the man into custody.

As deputies responded, the man fled into a heavily wooded area behind the facility. When approached, he was uncooperative with deputies’ demands and violently confronted them before being shot, the report says.

The deputy involved in the shooting is a 12-year veterans of the sheriff’s office. The names of the deputy and the man who was killed are not yet being released.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting with the full cooperation of the sheriff’s office, the report says.