Police surrounded a camper in Key Largo for hours. Inside, an armed man was found dead

David Goodhue, Gwen Filosa
·2 min read

A man was found dead in Key Largo on Thursday after police had surrounded his camper for hours.

At first, deputies believed the man shot at them. But they now say the man shot himself through the head and that the bullet went through the camper’s window.

Police identified the man as 28-year-old Travis Lee Lewanski, of Key Largo, and said he was alone in the RV.

The shot was fired immediately after police had knocked on the door and announced they were with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

“It appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Ramsay said. “The one round went off when our detectives knocked and announced and that round went through the glass window right next to the detectives.”

The camper had been vacant, Ramsay said.

“We believe he was squatting in there,” Ramsay said. “It was all full of mold, mildew, dust and dirt for being there for a long period of time.”

Police knocked on the door of this trailer Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. They later found a man inside dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police knocked on the door of this trailer Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. They later found a man inside dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Deputies blocked access to Mahogany Drive and Lime Drive and evacuated the immediate area after a single gunshot was fired at about 10:15 a.m., police said.

The shot was fired from inside the camper.

Detectives were at the camper, located behind a pawn shop, as part of a burglary investigation.

Ramsay said the case involved “a large amount of ammunition and silver” and that the man was a suspect in other reported thefts in the area.

At 11 a.m., hostage negotiators were tried to make contact with the man at mile marker 102 of U.S. 1.

Members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office tactical team arrive outside a pawn shop on U.S. 1 on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. An armed man was barricaded in a trailer behind the shop.
Members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office tactical team arrive outside a pawn shop on U.S. 1 on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. An armed man was barricaded in a trailer behind the shop.

By noon, dozens of sheriff’s office cars, as well as ones from the U.S. Border Patrol and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, lined U.S.1 as heavily armed members of the sheriff’s office tactical team arrived in the parking lot of Coral Financial Jewelry and Pawn.

Around 12:30 p.m., the tactical team fired a flash bang grenade into the camper. They discovered the man’s body when they went inside.

Ramsay said the man’s father told police his son owned a rifle and a .357 magnum pistol. It was not immediately known what kind of firearm killed the man.