VERO BEACH, Fla. — The Indian River County Sheriff's Office released footage Tuesday that shows the moments when deputies shot a 19-year-old man — who was armed with a gun — while he was running away from them following a traffic stop this past weekend.
Officials identified the man who was shot as 19-year-old Jamall Frederick of Fort Pierce.
"We are in the beginning stages of an active, ongoing investigation," Sheriff Eric Flowers said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "All of this, this entire incident, could have been avoided had Jamall Frederick listened to the deputies, their instructions not to touch the gun. The second he armed himself, he changed the scenario."
WATCH BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF THE SHOOTING:
The deputy-involved shooting occurred just after 9 p.m. Saturday after a traffic stop near 45th Street and 30th Avenue in Gifford.
Officials said they stopped the vehicle after they believed the occupants were involved in a "shots fired" called — as well as recent burglaries involving the theft of firearms — just hours before the traffic stop.
Flowers said his deputies told individuals in the car not to touch a gun in the vehicle. However, they said a Frederick did just that and tried to run away, resulting in deputies firing and injuring him.
Video released Tuesday showed the deputies ask Frederick to step out of the vehicle, but once the door opens, he takes off and flees the scene holding a gun.
WATCH: Sheriff Eric Flowers holds a news conference about the deputy-involved shooting
Frederick turns toward the deputies while trying to escape. This prompts deputies to unleash a volley of gunshots.
"Shots are fired as he's running away. There's no doubt about that," Flowers said. "What you have to understand though is they know that this guy is a known burglar. They know that this guy has just aggressively armed himself when he was told, 'Do not touch this gun,'" Flowers said.
The sheriff's office said once Frederick was on the ground, deputies approached him and gave instructions to raise his hands.
Authorities said he ignored their orders and Frederick presented a firearm, stood up and escaped into a neighborhood.
The bodycam footage showed deputies then firing another volley of shots.
"In this video, do you see him pointing the gun? No, there's nothing in the video that we're going to release that shows him pointing the gun," Flowers said. "I don't know what the deputies saw."
A K-9 unit led a search team of deputies and later located Frederick hiding in an enclosed porch of a nearby home. He was taken into custody and medical personnel was called, according to the sheriff's office.
"These deputies are out there making split-second decisions during a traffic stop on the side of the road at night when others are in the comforts of their own home," Flowers said. "They make these decisions based on information they know at the time."
WPTV spoke Monday with Tony Brown, the head of the NAACP in Indian River County, who questioned the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
"(Frederick) was a suspect, and he was running away," Brown told WPTV on Tuesday. "You shot indiscriminately. And to my community, you endangered the lives of my people."
Frederick is hospitalized at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in stable condition. Flowers said he was a convicted felon who was on probation.
"Our team was out there doing their job, monitoring these criminals, and they encountered a guy, who refused to listen to their commands, chose to arm himself, and he was ultimately shot," Flowers said.
Deputies recovered the gun that Frederick had in his possession along with a second gun that was in their car.
Investigators said both firearms were reported stolen in a series of recent residential and auto burglaries. One gun was stolen in Vero Beach South and the other in Fellsmere.
Another passenger in the vehicle, Zbryius Jones, 18, was also arrested on a probation violation. Two other people that were in the vehicle were released but remain under investigation, the sheriff's office said.
"These guys are county-wide criminals," Flowers said. "We will not tolerate these known felons endangering our community."
The four deputies involved in the shooting are currently on paid administrative leave.
The sheriff said they will be speaking with the deputies involved in the shooting later this week and hope to have more information on the case after those interviews.
South Florida defense lawyer and former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan sat down with WPTV's Michael Williams to review the video released by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.
"In my opinion, with all the cases I have been involved (in), 100%, the deputy was within his lawful right to discharge his firearm to neutralize the imminent threat to him and other deputies on the scene," Kaplan said.
WATCH: Kaplan's reaction to deputy-involved shooting
Kaplan argued that, despite the perceived criticism about how deputies first approached the suspect's vehicle, it doesn't change his conclusion and does not justify the actions of the suspect trying to flee with a weapon.
