Bartow officers fatally shoot man who carjacked vehicle, pointed gun at them, police say

Two Bartow police officers fatally shot a man Monday afternoon after he carjacked a vehicle in Highland City, rammed several vehicles at a traffic light near Bartow Ford and then pointed a gun at officers, according to Bartow police and Polk sheriff's officials.

Bartow Police Chief Andy Ray and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared together at an afternoon news conference at the scene of the incident Monday.

Ray said his officers were dispatched to a call of an armed disturbance near the dealership just before 4 p.m.

"The caller said a person was armed with a gun and was waving the gun around at the time, and was threatening people with it," Ray said.

Officers shortly Joshua Lee Walker, 32, of Highland City. walking south on U.S. 98 near a ditch on the side of the road. One officer stopped in front of Walker to confront him, and a second pulled up behind, Ray said.

"There was some brief dialogue. The gentleman started to turn and head east toward the water in the ditch, took a couple of steps, turned back and pulled the pistol out and pointed it directly at one of my officers, the first one that encountered him," Ray said. "And at that point, the officer fired his gun, and his backup officer also fired his pistol to answer that threat.

"The suspect was shot a couple of times that we're aware of. None of our officers were shot in the incident."

Ray said officers administered medical assistance and EMS responded. Walker was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center in critical condition with two gunshot wounds to his torso. He died there Monday night, authorities said.

Ray did not say whether Walker fired the weapon.

Judd said the incident started some time earlier in Highland City, where Walker had been in a conflict with his mother. He asked for her car, saying he had to leave because of outstanding warrants. But she refused, the sheriff said.

"He took a 9-mm pistol and pointed it to his head, and he said, 'Well I'll do suicide by cop,' and he left the residence," Judd said.

From there, the sheriff said Walker carjacked a vehicle at a nearby liquor store and fled south on U.S. 98. At the Ernest Smith Boulevard, he attempted to ram through two vehicles, Judd said, striking a large pickup truck. The vehicle then swerved into the northbound lane and hit another car with two passengers.

Judd said at that point, Walker got out of the damaged vehicle and attempted to carjack two other cars, but they sped past him without stopping. Walker then fled south on foot in the northbound lane of U.S. 98.

Judd said Bartow police responded to what they thought was an armed disturbance call.

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"They have no idea that they're going to this very violent, very dangerous man who has threatened suicide by cop ... committed at least one carjacking, tried to do two more carjackings, rammed innocent people who were just driving down the road or stopped at a traffic light," Judd said.

"These Bartow police officers did an absolute magnificent job. They're heroes. They protected themselves, they protected the community," Judd said.

Judd said Walker had a criminal history "30 pages long" and had been to prison two times.

"He knew he was on his way back to prison; and he wasn't going back to prison," Judd said.

On Tuesday morning, the Sheriff's Office said the gun Walker had was a loaded 9-mm Springfield with a live round in the chamber and 10 live rounds in the 13-round capacity magazine. As a convicted felon, he was not legally allowed to possess a firearm.

The officers will be on administrative leave during the initial stage of the investigation, Ray said, "and make sure they're OK emotionally, physically."

The officers' names were not released Monday. The incident will be investigated by the Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force, a multi-agency investigative group for the 10th Judicial Circuit of which the Polk County Sheriff's Office takes a leading role.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow officers kill man who pointed a gun at them near Bartow Ford