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Deputy fires on charging man

The officer had to shoot to keep the man from ramming him with an SUV, authorities say.

By THOMAS LAKE and JAMAL THALJI
Published February 9, 2007

A grown man wept Thursday. He lay in the road under a startling blue sky, not far from undercover sheriff's deputies who wore black masks.

The man had been shot, possibly more than once. Authorities said a deputy fired the gun. They said he did it to stop the man from smashing into him with a full-size sport utility vehicle.

The man's name was not officially released, but an attorney with firsthand knowledge of the situation identified him as Terrance E. Moore, 33, whose Florida criminal record lists more than a dozen arrests, including a charge of aggravated battery on a police officer.

Paramedics wheeled Moore into the Rescue 10 ambulance, which delivered him to a helicopter that took him to an undisclosed hospital. His condition was not available Thursday night.

"This is tremendously upsetting," said the attorney, Pete Proly, who witnessed part of the incident at his law office on Oak Trail Way.

Here's what happened, according to representatives from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and eyewitnesses:

About 4 p.m., Moore finished an appointment with Curtis Crider, a Clearwater lawyer who rents space in the offices of Proly, Laporte, Mulligan and Stathopolous P.A. Two detectives in unmarked vehicles tried to stop him outside. They had reason to believe he had a suspended license, an active warrant and perhaps illegal drugs.

Moore was driving a Chevrolet Suburban. He rammed it into one of the unmarked cars, crumpling the front end and injuring the detective inside. He tried to run down the other detective, who was standing in front of his cruiser.

"He's got a gun!" someone yelled.

The detective opened fire. At least one round hit the target.

Agency policies say officers may use potentially deadly force against a suspect who is threatening human life.

Neither detective's name was released Thursday night. The one inside the cruiser was taken to a local hospital; he was expected to be treated and released.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting, which occurred in a cluster of professional buildings just south of State Road 52 and east of U.S. 19.

Everyone was stuck inside the law office while authorities sorted out what happened outside. Later they told everyone they could go - but their vehicles had to stay if they were inside the crime scene tape.

They waited for rides, ready to put the afternoon behind them. Deputies drove some of them home. Dusk fell. Moore's sweatshirt lay in the road, near the Suburban with the shattered window, near the mangled Crown Victoria.

Times researchers Caryn Baird and Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245.

[Last modified February 8, 2007, 22:46:38]