JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 69-year-old man was shot and killed by police officers at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Interstate 295 on Saturday after a 20-minute standoff following a crash, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
JSO Chief Alan Parker said officers responded around 6 p.m. to a crash with injuries at the intersection.
WATCH: Press play below for the full briefing on the deadly officer-involved shooting
He explained that a woman was attempting to turn north on I-295 from Beach Boulevard eastbound with her two children -- ages 10 and 7 -- in the car. The woman got the green light to make the left turn, according to witnesses, but an SUV blew through the red light and T-boned the woman’s Camry, JSO said.
“(He) hits them broadside, causing a pretty big impact,” Parker said.
The woman told police that when she looked over at the driver of the SUV, he gave her a thumbs up, and then he got out of the SUV and started wandering around.
The woman and her two children were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Parker said.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue paramedics at the scene and another man who was in the area both told officers that they heard the man say he was going to take his own life.
When the officers confirmed that the man was armed with a gun, they quickly cleared the area and shut down the road, Parker said.
He said the officers set themselves up on the exit ramp, and a trained negotiator tried to talk with the man, but Parker said the man wouldn’t even tell them his name.
“They were very calm, repeating themselves, because he was not giving them anything,” Parker said. “There was a lot of non-responses, so they just kept trying to initiate some type of conversation to see what the issue is. He’s just not responding.”
Parker said that after about 20 minutes, a person who wasn’t aware of the situation came riding up on a bicycle toward the scene, and the man with the gun turned toward the bicyclist.
Parker said that’s when officers had to take action. Two officers fired their rifles at the man, who later died at the hospital from his injuries.
“He turned toward (the bicyclist), and they had to take action. You can’t wait. Action is always quicker than reaction,” Parker said. “They’ve got a duty to protect all these surrounding people. He had 20 minutes, and he already made some pretty bad statements, so they’re not going to take that risk and put innocent people in jeopardy.”
The two officers involved were Officer Greg Hernandez, who has been with JSO for six years, and Officer Zacharey Slatowski, who has been with the agency for nearly five years. It was the first officer-involved shooting for both men.
Parker said Hernandez was one of the trained negotiators trying to communicate with the man at the scene.
“When the officer was negotiating, he was saying, ‘We’re not here to hurt you’ because they’re not,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said. “We’re here to try to get this thing settled as peacefully and safely as possible, but, unfortunately, it didn’t end that way tonight.”
Investigators said it turned out the 69-year-old man had five DUIs on his record and his license was permanently revoked in 2024. Parker said the man, whose name has not been released, did not have a documented history of mental health issues.
Beach Boulevard reopened in both directions around 10:15 p.m., a little more than four hours after the incident began.
This marked the 12th officer-involved shooting this year for JSO, and the third in the last 10 days.
“It’s a unique situation we find ourselves in, in 2025,” Waters said. “Things have changed around the world when it comes to how people view authority and view the police. I don’t know if that’s what his situation was, but we’re seeing this a little bit more often, right?
“These things can often end very peacefully,” Waters added. “It’s always up to the individual that we’re here to speak to or that we face. They make the decision, and once they make the decision, then we act upon the decision that they make. You don’t ever come to these things wanting it to end up like this."
