Man shoots himself as deputies enter home

SEMINOLE -- A man shot himself in the head Sunday morning as Pinellas sheriff's deputies entered his home with a search warrant, sheriff's officials said.

George Green, 31, was on life support at Bayfront Medical Center Sunday afternoon, said Marianne Pasha, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

Deputies obtained a search warrant for Green's home at 8597 Oakhurst Road after being told drugs were inside, Pasha said. Deputies also learned that Green had guns and had threatened a man with one of the weapons the day before, she said.

Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics team entered the home about 6:40 a.m. Sunday. Green was in a bedroom when they came inside. Just as deputies reached the bedroom, Green shot himself with a .38-caliber handgun, Pasha said. He was taken by helicopter to Bayfront.

"There was neither time to stop him or anything else," Pasha said. "As they entered, he shot."

Pasha said deputies found three guns, including the one Green used to shoot himself. They found 2.6 grams of crack cocaine, 11 oxycodone tablets and drug paraphernalia, Pasha said.

Green faces charges of crack cocaine possession, trafficking in oxycodone and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also was wanted on three drug-related warrants and a charge of violating his probation, Pasha said. Green has previous arrests for drug possession, court records show.

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