LACOOCHEE - Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison spent nearly half his life patrolling eastern Pasco County, and knew exactly where to position his patrol car to keep watch over a lively nightclub on a dark stretch of U.S. 301.
Early Sunday, Harrison was watching the club with several other deputies when gunfire was reported in the area. The deputies left to investigate; Harrison stayed behind.
Upon returning, the deputies found Harrison in his patrol car, unresponsive. Thinking he had suffered a heart attack, they called paramedics, who discovered a gunshot wound in the back.
Harrison, a 31-year veteran of the Pasco Sheriff's Office and the highest ranking black deputy in the county's history, was pronounced dead at a Dade City hospital.
He was 57, and two weeks from retirement.
Upbeat and typically smiling, Harrison was a father of three, a former high school football star, a member of his church choir, and a lifelong resident of Dade City.
He was the first Pasco deputy killed in the line of duty in 80 years, officials said.
By daybreak, the Sheriff's Office had launched a manhunt involving more than 150 officers, helicopters and police dogs. Deputies shut down a stretch of U.S. 301 to search cars and check drivers' licenses.
As of late Sunday, no arrests had been made, and detectives would not comment on possible leads or suspects.
A tearful Pasco Sheriff Bob White called the shooting "intentional" and vowed to find Harrison's killer. "Lt. Harrison surely did not see it coming," he said.
He said he knew of nobody who would want to harm Harrison.
"I don't know that he had any enemies," White said.
Officials declined to comment on any possible motive, on the path the bullet traveled, or on whether Harrison was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Harrison started his shift Saturday as he had thousands of times before. He worked for several hours and then took a break about 7 p.m., heading to choir practice at St. John Missionary Baptist in Dade City.
Later, he called his ex-wife in Tampa and asked her to bring some of the collard greens, rice and yams she had cooked for dinner.
Afterward, about 2 a.m., Harrison pulled into the parking lot at the Farm Basket Market on U.S. 301. He positioned his patrol car so he could see Rumors, a nightclub familiar to most deputies working on the east side of Pasco.
Several other deputies were there, until they heard a report of gunfire across the street from the Farm Basket Market, said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.
He declined to discuss what, if anything, deputies found. He said only that Harrison, the patrol supervisor on the county's east side, stayed behind and was shot.
Officials would not comment on whether anyone saw or heard anything suspicious. Other than the nightclub and the store, the area has only a gas station, a warehouse, and several other businesses along the highway.
After paramedics found the wound in Harrison's back, they drove him to Dade City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
By 3 a.m., telephones were ringing in the homes of Harrison's family and friends.
His pastor, the Rev. Harold Thomas, rushed to the hospital, as did dozens of relatives who gathered in a waiting room, sobbing, hugging, wondering what had happened.
Thomas prayed with the family, and then delivered the news in church on Sunday morning, saying that Harrison had been "called home." Harrison's picture hangs on a wall above the sanctuary, along with the other church trustees.
"He was loved by this whole community," Thomas said. "He was just a good man."
Officers from Hernando County, the Dade City Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol arrived in Lacoochee on Sunday to help with the search.
As detectives searched for evidence along U.S. 301, residents gathered at a convenience store nearby, shaking their heads, talking about Harrison.
"Everybody knows Bo," said Ezekiel Floyd, 53, of Dade City, referring to Harrison's nickname. "Bo's the best cop I know."
Robert Coleman, 55, of Lacoochee, said: "What's wrong with people these days?"
It was the second shooting involving a deputy in the past several days. On Friday, Citrus County sheriff's Sgt. David M. DeCarlo was shot twice while serving a search warrant. He survived and was in serious condition Sunday. Larry Edward Robbins, 25, the man suspected of shooting DeCarlo, was also shot and was in fair condition Sunday.
In October 1922, Pasco sheriff's Deputy A.F. Crenshaw and U.S. Prohibition Agent Jon Van Waters were headed for a ranch looking for bootleg liquor and for goods believed to have been taken from a Dade City store when they were ambushed and killed by several men.
Harrison was the first Pasco deputy since then to be killed in the line of duty.
White said detectives will not rest until they find the killer.
"We'll be here for as long as it takes," he said.
Detectives ask anyone with information to call toll-free 1-800-854-2862.
- Times staff writers Steve Thompson and Jan Glidewell contributed to this report.
