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CHRIS TISCHThe man came to the door of his room and pointed a gun at a police officer, who shot him.
CLEARWATER - The man told negotiators that police would have to take him out.
And when he came to the door of his Clearwater motel room and pointed a gun at a police officer Friday afternoon, that officer did just that. The man was struck once and killed, police said.
Police did not identify the man by Friday evening, but said he was 43 years old and had claimed to be a former member of the military.
After the shooting, police called in the Tampa Bomb Squad to check the room for booby traps before investigators entered.
The shooting ended a four-hour standoff with police that began Friday morning at the Regal Motel, 1320 Cleveland St.
The incident began just after 10 a.m. when Clearwater police received information from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that a troubled Tampa man might be at that motel armed with guns.
Police also were told the man might have someone with him, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.
Officers went to the motel and saw the man's Nissan parked in the lot, then verified with the desk clerk that the man had checked into room No. 7 on the first floor.
Not wanting to confront an armed man, they surrounded the motel, shut down part of Cleveland Street and told people in neighboring homes and businesses to stay inside.
The department's SWAT team was summoned and arrived within the hour, and police negotiators were put in place. Police also evacuated part of the motel but allowed some people who were out of harm's way to stay, Shelor said.
Police soon learned that the man's wife was at the motel. She told officers that her husband had multiple guns in the room and has struggled with drugs, Shelor said.
By this time, police negotiators had called the room and talked to the man, who said he was holding an acquaintance hostage because "he wanted to teach him a lesson," Shelor said.
It was unclear Friday evening why the barricaded man was upset with his hostage.
Sisters Glenda and Crista Climer, vacationers from Tennessee, said they checked into the motel Friday morning soon after the troubled man did.
They were assigned the room above him. When they left the room later that morning, they heard a man screaming from inside the room and saw police around the motel. "He could have grabbed us and taken us hostage," Glenda Climer said. "We walked right by his room. He could have just grabbed us. I'm thankful to God he didn't, because we could have gotten killed."
Negotiators continued talking over the phone to the man, who said he had a high-powered rifle with a scope and threatened to shoot people in the area. He also shared plans to force police to kill him.
Early Friday afternoon, the man let his hostage go. That man told officers there were handguns, a rifle and a shotgun inside the room, Shelor said.
Shelor said negotiators tried to talk the barricaded man out of his plan, but he held steadfast.
"We tried every trick in the book," Shelor said.
The man stuck his head out of the room a few times, but ducked back inside. Finally, just after 2 p.m., he stepped to the door and pointed a gun at a nearby sergeant who is on the SWAT team.
The sergeant, whom police identified as a 16-year veteran with no previous police shootings in his career, fired once.
"This was his day to die, but he didn't have the wherewithal to do it himself," Shelor said. "He made it clear he was going to put himself in a position where a police officer would have to shoot him.
"He forced the officer to shoot him," he added. "Now the officer has to deal with that."
Shelor described the officer as "a veteran leader of the Clearwater Police Department."
Officers sneaked up to the room and looked inside just enough to verify the man was dead. But because of comments the man had made to negotiators, they decided to call in the bomb squad to ensure the room was safe. The room was cleared later Friday afternoon.
Glenda Climer said she spoke to the man's brother-in-law after the shooting, who said the barricaded man was "strung out on crack" and was a former Navy SEAL who had a lot of weapons. Police had not verified a military background by Friday evening.
After the shooting, Climer and her sister were considering cutting their vacation to Clearwater short. "I was thinking of moving down here, but not now," she said.
The officer who shot the man was placed on paid administrative leave, which is routine after an officer-involved shooting. The police department's internal affairs and criminal investigations units will review the shooting, as will the State Attorney's Office, which is standard procedure.
- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com