X

Find a shooting

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.

Read more on how we defined these filters

Or start with these randomly selected cases:

WHY COPS SHOOT

Search all cases

Jan. 27, 2013 — Pensacola

Escambia County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Paul Gordon Thayer, 49, after he allegedly pointed a loaded handgun at them.

Escambia SO

Deputies were responding to a call for a burglary in progress. The caller said someone was cutting through a fence around a storage facility. However, one witness told the Pensacola News-Journal that he observed Thayer, who appeared to be drunk, mumbling to himself and shaking a chain-link fence.

He was about to talk to Thayer when deputies sped around the corner and at least four of them began shouting orders at the man. Read more

They fired 13 times and hit Thayer four times, including a fatal shot to the head.

FDLE investigated and the state attorney ruled the shooting justified, saying video showed Thayer pointing a loaded handgun at deputies. Deputy Wayne Wright was first on the scene. Deputy Mark Smith arrived as Wright was walking toward Thayer with his pistol drawn. Both fired at Thayer.

A black handgun was recovered near the body.

This was the 17th police shooting in Florida in 2013.

Five days earlier, two officers shot one person in Sarasota .

One day later, one officer shot one person in Jacksonville .

6 ways this case compares to others

  1. Thayer did not immediately comply with police instruction, a factor in nearly a quarter of shootings.
  2. Officers shot 13 bullets. The average was eight.
  3. Thayer was armed with a firearm. That’s true of almost half the people shot.
  4. Thayer was drinking alcohol before being shot. That’s true in about 10 percent of police shootings.
  5. Thayer showed signs of mental instability. Almost a third of all shootings involved someone who appeared mentally unstable.
  6. Thayer pointed a weapon at officers. Twenty-eight percent of shootings involved people who police say pointed a weapon at them.

More cases

2009. MIAMI — Around 9:30 p.m., Officer Eric Guzman pulled over the borrowed truck that Kiana Lamb was driving in the Overtown... 1 killed
2012. SUMMERFIELD — Deputy Lauren Miley responded to a complaint about a group of people being loud and... 1 killed
2011. POMONA PARK — An undercover officer arranged a sting in Putnam County to illegally purchase a firearm from convicted felon Rodrigo Espinoza and Avery... 1 killed 1 injured