PAHOKEE, Fla. — An investigation remains ongoing after a deputy shooting in which a suspect was fatally shot by a member of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
It happened on Wednesday night in Pahokee, Florida, a city located on the southeast shore of Lake Okeechobee.
Deputies said the suspect, Charles McCloud Jr., 44, committed three separate shootings between 10:12 p.m. and 10:54 p.m. before he was confronted and eventually shot by deputies, but not before attacking one of those deputies.
According to authorities, the first shooting occurred at 171 Booker Place, where deputies said two men were shot and killed by McCloud.
Multiple shots were fired at the second location, 8700 block of Doveland Drive, but authorities said nobody was struck by a bullet.
Not long after that, the third shooting took place at a convenience store located at 750 Belle Glade Road. Deputies said the man shot by McCloud at that location is expected to survive.
According to authorities, it was soon after the convenience store shooting that McCloud returned to the area of the second shooting, where deputies were investigating the call of shots fired and securing the area with crime scene tape.
That’s when authorities said McCloud drove his black GMC SUV at one of the deputies, “striking him and pushing him approximately 40 feet.”
Afterward, McCloud got out of his SUV while armed with a gun and attempted to shoot the injured deputy, authorities said, but the deputy opened fire first, fatally striking McCloud.
Authorities said a second PBSO deputy also fired at McCloud during the incident.
The deputy who was hit by McCloud’s SUV was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center to be treated for serious injuries, authorities said.
He has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard agency protocol for a deputy shooting.
According to authorities, McCloud had a long criminal history, “including charges for riot, resisting an officer with violence, armed robbery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, narcotics equipment/possession, and escape or attempted escape from a county facility.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will lead the investigation into the shooting.
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