JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a shooting at 7610 Blanding Boulevard at the Grand Courte Blanding Apartments at 6:21 p.m. Wednesday.
En route, Officer James Busque spotted a vehicle and suspect that matched the description of the shooter and attempted a traffic stop at Blanding Boulevard and 103rd Street. But the suspect took off, and Busque pursued him, JSO Chief Adam Brown said.
Brown said the suspect was "playing chicken" with traffic and weaving in and out of other vehicles.
The vehicle chase ended in the area of London Bridge Lane, when Busque executed a PIT maneuver, or precision immobilization technique, causing the suspect's car to spin out and stop.
The suspect then got out of the vehicle with a firearm in his hand, Brown said.
"This was confirmed by a witness; we have an eyewitness at the scene who saw that," Brown said. "When the officer commanded him to stop, the suspect turned toward him with the firearm in his hand. The actual positioning of the firearm, I'm not sure of."
Busque fired at the suspect, striking him, but the suspect spun around and raised his weapon toward Busque, who fired again, killing the suspect, Brown said.
The shooting of the suspect took place at 6:29 p.m., only eight minutes after the initial callout.
The victim in the initial shooting on Blanding Boulevard was taken to the hospital. The victim is man, but no other information was available on him.
Busque has been with JSO 4½ years and this is his first officer-involved shooting.