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There were 772 cases of police shootings between 2009 and 2014. Use the filters below to find cases that match a certain set of criteria.

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May 17, 2010 — Bonita Springs

Craig Spitz, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, fled the shooting of a former co-worker at the Inn at the Springs in Bonita Springs.

Lee SO

Spitz, 42, had been fired from the hotel in 2008.

Hours later, a deputy spotted him driving on Morton Avenue, near his home. Spitz would not stop, so deputies forced his car off the road and into a ditch. Read more

Spitz pulled out a black revolver, raising it toward the roof of his car and looked from deputy to deputy until locking eyes with Deputy Rush Brewton and pointing the revolver.

The four deputies -- Brewton, John Gordon, Bradley Weich and Jarrod Heyse -- fired a total of 12 rounds. Spitz died at the scene.

This was the 40th police shooting in Florida in 2010.

Two days earlier, two officers shot one person in Coconut Creek .

Two days later, one officer shot one person in Tampa .

6 ways this case compares to others

  1. Spitz tried to kill someone before the shooting, according to police. That’s true only 3 percent of the time.
  2. Officers shot 12 bullets. The average was eight.
  3. Spitz was armed with a firearm. That’s true of almost half the people shot.
  4. Spitz told someone that he wanted officers to kill him. That preceded 10 percent of police shootings.
  5. Spitz showed signs of mental instability. Almost a third of all shootings involved someone who appeared mentally unstable.
  6. Spitz pointed a weapon at officers. Twenty-eight percent of shootings involved people who police say pointed a weapon at them.

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