‘This didn’t have to happen:’ Charlotte County releases body camera footage of fatal officer-involved shooting

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WWSB) – The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has released body camera footage of a deputy-involved shooting that left one man dead.

In the 20-minute video, officers are seen speaking with Elroy Clarke, 42, at his home and using various methods to de-escalate the tension.

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell held a news conference Friday to provide additional information about the incident. you can see it here.

According to Prummell, officers responded to a residence shortly after noon Wednesday in reference to a disturbance between Clarke, the owner of the property, and Troy Johnson, a guest at the property that Clarke wanted to vacate.

Prummell said the suspects had “sovereign ideologies,” meaning they feel they don’t have to follow the law or instructions.

Upon arrival, officers discovered that Clarke had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear on a trespassing charge. When they tried to arrest him, he resisted. Prummell said this lasted about 20 minutes.

Officers attempted to use Tasers and pepper spray several times to no effect. Three officers went to work on him at one point and he “threw them at them like they were rag dolls,” Prummell said.

An officer then pulled out a shotgun that fires pellet bullets and appeared to fire at least twice, again to no effect.

“In my 33 years, I’ve never seen that before,” Prummell said.

Clarke eventually charged one of the officers and that’s when the officer fatally shot him.

Sheriff Prummell confirmed during Friday’s press conference that the deputy fired 14 times. The video shows other officers trying to calm the officer down for several minutes afterward.

“This is a tragic incident. None of us wanted this to happen. You can clearly see that the deputies did not want this to happen. And now, unfortunately, because of his decision, there are children who are now left without a father,” Prummell said.

The sheriff’s office is still waiting on a toxicology report from the medical examiner’s office.

ABC7 chooses not to share the body camera footage because it contains graphic violence and vulgar language.

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