Police in Central Florida shot and killed a 71-year-old man carrying a shotgun Thursday night in Lakeland.
Officers responded around 8:45 p.m. to 726 W. Crescent Dr. to a dispute between neighbors.
Authorities said the neighbors reported Jerry Roach had yelled at them, fired a shot into the air and pointed a gun at them.
The responding officers set up a perimeter around Roach's house and evacuated nearby homes. A police negotiator then called Roach by phone and asked him multiple times to exit his house peacefully.
Police said Roach told the negotiator, "He was coming out and officers would have to kill him." Lakeland Police Chief Larry Giddens said Roach promised to walk out of his home with his shotgun despite requests for him to leave unarmed.
Roach left his home carrying his shotgun around 10:52 p.m. Police said he continued to advance toward officers even as they ordered him to put his weapon on down.
Giddens said six officers, fearing for their own lives, fired at Roach and hit the 71-year-old multiple times.
Officers performed first aid on Roach until Paramedics could transport him to Lakeland Regional Hospital. Doctors pronounced him dead around 11:20 p.m.
The officers who fired will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the Lakeland Police Department and State Attorney's Office.
Chief Giddens said officers responded to Roach's home at least eight times in the past.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, since 1990 Roach has been arrested multiple times for Battery, Resisting an Officer with Violence, Battery on an Officer and DUI.
