WEST PARK, Fla. – A man was shot at by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy Friday morning in West Park.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 4200 block of West Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
BSO spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said a deputy saw a suspicious car that was not in a parking spot. She said the person in the car, identified as John Musso, 49, appeared to be passed out with the engine running.
Concepcion said Musso was slumped over with drug paraphernalia in plain view, so the deputy called for backup.
After seeing the deputy, Musso began to slowly drive away and then made a U-turn to head east on Hallandale Beach Boulevard as backup arrived and blocked his path, Concepcion said.
"Musso stopped and acted as if he was complying with the three uniformed deputies' commands as they began to approach the vehicle, but he then reversed rapidly, knocking down a male and female deputy and striking a unit," Concepcion said in a statement. "The third deputy fired, but Musso continued to reverse. He finally stopped once he saw additional units arrived on scene."
Concepcion said Musso admitted to doing drugs inside the car when he passed out.
"The police have to protect themselves, period," Pam Williams, who owns a store nearby, said.
Williams said she had to wait for the yellow tape to come down before she could open up her new store, which is just feet from where the shooting happened.
"I retired from (Miami-Dade) Corrections, so I have love for my department -- love for law enforcement, so it just blew my mind," she said.
Local 10 News reporter Layron Livingston also spoke with a man who said he was awakened by the sound of multiple gunshots.
"I see everything. I'm not going to say nothing," he said. "He was sleeping in the (expletive) car."
The man told Livingston that he saw the suspect's car in the middle of the road with the driver's door bent back.
"Maybe he was startled, surprised, however, but me, myself, I wouldn't react, maybe, like that," Williams said.
The two deputies and Musso were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They were later released.
Concepcion said it appears that Musso had superficial wounds that might be from shattered glass, but he was not shot.
He was arrested upon being released from the hospital and faces charges of aggravated battery to a law enforcement officer.