Escambia County suspect shot and killed after holding victim hostage at knifepoint

Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal
·3 min read
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An Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputy shot and killed a suspect who was holding a woman hostage with a knife to her throat.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said two Bay Minette, Alabama, bail bondsman went to pick up 53-year-old Ronnie Clark on a failure to appear warrant for felony meth charges on Sunday when he took a woman hostage, holding her at knifepoint at the 4700 block of Helton Lane. Deputies responded to the scene around 4:45 p.m.

Patrol deputies and the ECSO SWAT team spoke with the man for five hours before he tried escaping with the hostage as he held a knife to her throat, according to Simmons.

"All this time, he held a woman against her will inside a tent that's on that property," Simmons said during a press conference Monday morning. "He also, during this time, made two phone calls or texts to people he knows as acquaintances and says he has a gun and he said he's going to shoot our with deputies."

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Drone footage shown during the press conference shows roughly a dozen SWAT deputies surrounding Clark as he pulls the struggling woman to the front door of his vehicle. Simmons said Clark was using the hostage as "a human shield" as he attempted to get in the car.

The footage shows Clark and the hostage entering the vehicle, at which time one of the SWAT tactical vehicles slams into the back of the car, trying to lift the tires so Clark cannot escape.

Deputies then swarmed the car as Clark remained in the vehicle with a knife to the woman's throat. A deputy came up to the passenger side of the vehicle and saw the chance to separate the suspect from the hostage.

Drone footage shows a single muzzle flash from the deputy firing one fatal shot at Clark. After the shot was fired, the hostage was taken to an area hospital for treatment

Sheriff Chip Simmons says he believes this is the perceived firearm that Clark was using to threaten to shoot deputies with during the hostage situation Sunday.
Sheriff Chip Simmons says he believes this is the perceived firearm that Clark was using to threaten to shoot deputies with during the hostage situation Sunday.

"The first thing we want to do is save the life of the hostage," Simmons said. "I think that when you see an active struggle like that with an individual with a knife to person's throat, their life is in grave danger, and if you have an opportunity to eliminate that danger then you do so.

"The decisions are based solely on saving lives," he added. "We cannot let a victim, a hostage leave with a hostage-taker."

Clark has been convicted of 58 felonies throughout his life and has been designated as a violent felony offender of special interest, Simmons said.

During the press conference, Simmons showed a photo of what appears to be multiple objects wrapped in black tape shaped as gun. Simmons said he believes that is what Clark was using as the gun to threaten deputies.

In accordance to protocol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting. The officer who fired the shot is on administrative leave pending the investigation.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ECSO shot and killed suspect who had hostage at knifepoint