OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Surveillance video from a Target parking lot shows the events that led to Osceola County deputies shooting at teenagers.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez held a press conference on Monday to talk about a deadly deputy-involved shooting that happened outside the Target store in Kissimmee on April 27.
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Investigators said two teens stole a pizza and some Pokémon cards and then got into a car.
The driver, 20-year-old Jayden Baez was shot and killed by deputies. Nineteen-year-old Joseph Lowe was shot in the hands and lost a finger.
See a clip of the surveillance footage below:
Last week, lawyers for their families held a news conference and claimed deputies did not identify themselves as law enforcement.
The sheriff had not said much about what happened, only that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was investigating and repeated those statements at Monday’s news conference.
“We’re fully cooperating with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. They’re gonna investigate this incident so we can’t comment on it,” Lopez said. “Let them do their job then as soon as it comes out, whatever the outcome is, then we can start talking about it.”
Read: Teen shot by deputies outside Osceola County Target recalls moment bullets started flying
On Monday Lopez finally gave some details on what led up to the shooting but still refused to talk about one thing.
“To be clear, I will not be commenting on the shooting itself,” Lopez said.
But after that comment, the sheriff went on to give more details than he’s ever said about what happened that night.
Lopez said his agency did its own investigation into the alleged criminal acts of Baez and his passengers only and that the FDLE will do the rest.
The sheriff said that Baez rammed four deputies’ unmarked vehicles in an attempt to flee when deputies got out of the car.
He said deputies feared for their lives and when they pulled Baez’ body out of the car, a gun fell. Paperwork just released said the weapon was in his lap with his hand near it.
The sheriff would not say if the gun was pointed at or if the ramming of those cars was the reason his deputies fired into that vehicle, saying that part is under investigation.
Lopez also claimed that deputies identified themselves, but the driver ignored them.
According to Lopez, the crews responding were tactical units doing training exercises.
READ: 1 dead in shooting involving 2 deputies in Kissimmee, sheriff’s office says
9 Investigates has been asking for years about why those types of officers don’t always have body cameras. In the past, agencies cited concerns about battery life, heavy vests limiting room for the cameras and the fact that the cameras could collect sensitive intelligence information.
Despite that, last year, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office added those cameras for all of its agency’s SWAT members. Volusia County and Orlando Police use them within SWAT as well.
During the press conference, Lopez spent time blaming the media for their reporting of the case over the last week and even blamed the attorneys for three of the suspects.
READ: Report: Teens stole Pokémon cards, pizza before deputies fired shots outside Target store
Those attorneys have not yet sent a statement on Lopez’s comments but plan to hold a news conference on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Osceola Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video from Target on the day of the shooting.
We will have more in-depth coverage on Channel 9 News at 10 and 11 p.m.
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