IMMOKALEE, Fla — The Collier County Sheriff's Office has released more information on the officer-involved shooting in Immokalee on Sept. 17th.
According to a press release posted on Facebook, three deputies responded to a call for help from a frightened woman on Edenfield Way.
As we continue to investigate the Sept. 17 officer-involved shooting in Immokalee we can provide the following update: ...
Posted by Collier County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, September 22, 2020
The woman reported a man she didn't know was banging on her door and demanded to be let inside.
She told the dispatcher the man was armed with a shovel.
Investigators say Cpl. Pierre Richard Jean, K9 Cpl. Nathan Kirk and Deputy Brian Tarazona responded to the scene and saw a man near the front door of the home with a shovel in his left hand.
That man was identified as 37-year-old Nicholas Morales-Bessannia.
Morales-Bessannia began walking down the driveway toward deputies still armed with the shovel.
Investigators say as he walked towards deputies, he ignored repeated commands in English and Spanish to get on the ground.
They say Morales-Bessannia released the shovel from his left hand as he was getting close to them and produced a shiny, sharp object in his right hand that deputies believed to be a deadly weapon.
CCSO says he then ran toward the deputies and ignored commands to get on the ground, and when he got closer to the deputies
Morales-Bessannia was still charging toward them with the weapon in his right hand.
Investigators say it the object was raised in a manner that deputies perceived to be threatening, and Cpl. Jean, in fear for his life and the lives of the other deputies, fired four gunshots.
Cpl. Kirk also released K9 Gomez, and the dog bit Morales-Bessannia in the right shoulder.
The entire situation between deputies and Morales-Bessannia lasted 13 seconds, investigators say.
CCSO says Morales-Bessannia was running toward the deputies with a raised weapon during the last few seconds of their encounter.
First aid was given to Morales-Bessannia until EMS arrived.
Detectives determined the shiny object was a pair of sharp landscaping shears.
In the Facebook post, CCSO says landscaping tools and shovels are considered to be deadly forced weapons.
A criminal investigation and an administrative investigation is still underway.
The State Attorney's Office will receive the entire criminal investigative file to review.
Collier Sheriffs Office conduct criminal and administrative investigation into officer-involved shooting:
