‘It Shouldn’t Have Happened’: Charlotte County Releases Body Camera Footage Of Deputy Shooting

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WWSB) – The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has released body camera video of a shooting that left one man dead.

The 20-minute video shows deputies talking to 42-year-old Elroy Clark at his home and using several de-escalation techniques.

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prammell held a press conference Friday to provide more information about the incident. You can watch it here.

Deputies responded to the residence shortly after noon Wednesday in reference to a disturbance between Clark, the property owner, and Troy Johnson, a guest at the property who Clark wanted to leave, Prummell said.

Prammell said the suspects had a “sovereign ideology,” meaning they felt they didn’t have to follow the law or follow directions.

Upon arrival, deputies discovered that Clark had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear on a trespassing charge. When they tried to detain him, he resisted. Prammell said it lasted about 20 minutes.

Deputies tried several times to use a stun gun and pepper spray, but to no avail. Three deputies once “took on” him, and he “threw them off like rag dolls,” Prammell said.

The deputy then pulled out a shotgun, firing at least twice, again to no avail.

“In my 33 years, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Prummell said.

Clark eventually charged one of the deputies, and that’s when the deputy fatally shot him.

During a press conference Friday, Sheriff Prummell confirmed that the deputy fired 14 times. The video shows other deputies trying to calm the deputy down for several minutes.

“This is a tragic case. None of us wanted this to happen. It is clear that the deputies did not want this. And now, unfortunately, because of his decision, there are children who are left without parents,” Prummell said.

The sheriff’s office is still awaiting a toxicology report from the medical examiner’s office.

ABC7 chose not to share the body camera footage because it contains graphic violence and profanity.