Surveillance video from outside a gas station shows a man stealing a dump truck that officials say he used to ram two patrol vehicles just before law enforcement shot and killed him in Milton, Florida.
Two Milton police officers and a Santa Rosa County deputy are on paid administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting.
The surveillance video shows the P&S Construction dump truck around 5:10 a.m. parked at a pump at The Other Store at Dogwood Drive and Magnolia Street. Officials say a man walking down the street jumped into the truck and drove off. The truck driver ran out when he saw it was being stolen.
“What’s this world coming to?” said Steve Smith, owner of P&S Construction. “People are really stupid to try to steal a dump truck and think they’re going to get away with it.”
Ten minutes later, the driver of the stolen truck was shot and killed. Officials say he rammed two patrol vehicles, leading to officers firing shots near the entrance to Pensacola State College in Milton.
“It’s wild,” said Megan Jernigan, a manager at The Other Store where the theft occurred. She said she is sad to learn someone died but thankful no one else was hurt.
Smith says law enforcement did the right thing because the 20,000-pound truck could have caused significant damage. He says he is changing his company’s policies so that all drivers must turn the truck off and take the key with them.
The man who died has not been identified.