Manatee deputy run over by stolen vehicle; officers fire shots at driver, sheriff says
Palmetto police officers and Manatee deputies fired multiple shots at a driver Tuesday night after he allegedly failed to obey commands and ran a deputy over with a stolen vehicle, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday in a news release.
The sheriff’s office assisted Palmetto Police Department with the case and is now investigating the incident.
At around 10 p.m., Palmetto police received information about a stolen vehicle, the release said. When backup arrived, Manatee County sheriff’s deputies say they saw Palmetto officers with their guns drawn and giving verbal commands to 38-year-old Randall Gray of St. Petersburg, who they allege was the driver of a stolen car.
Those deputies said they parked a marked patrol vehicle in front of the stolen vehicle with their emergency lights on and exited with their firearms drawn.
That’s when Gray continued to ignore commands, they said, and instead accelerated the vehicle toward one of the other deputies standing nearby.
That deputy was unable to get out of the way and was run over by Gray, the release said. And that’s when they shot at him.
The vehicle continued until it crashed into a tree about 70 yards away. Gray then crawled out of the vehicle and ran before K-9 deputies caught him shortly thereafter.
The injured deputy was transported to a local hospital with trauma to his legs and was later released.
Gray was left with an injury to his hand. He is being charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, with more charges pending.
The deputy who fired shots is now on paid administrative leave while both an investigation into the shooting and an internal investigation is conducted.
Gray was out on bond from Sumter County for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other charges.
According to Sheriff Rick Wells, no other information will be released at this time because of the active investigations.
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 12:34 PM.