Standoff ends in man's death
Deputies say the former firefighter aimed a shotgun at them after crawling out of home.
By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published July 18, 2007
RIVERVIEW - The call crackled over the Sheriff's Office radio.
A man in a straw hat, rifle slung over his arm, headed down Lovers Lane.
Years before, William Joe Best had worked as a firefighter in Sarasota, raised a daughter and lived comfortably.
Best, 45, died early Tuesday morning, shot by law enforcement officers who say he barricaded himself in a mobile home, then came out with a gun pointed at deputies.
Best shared the home with fiance Tracy Sherwood and another man.
Retired and disabled, Best needed a hip replacement and struggled with his health, said his fiance's sister, Debbie Parrott of Venice.
"He just had some problems, drinking, a little bit," she said.
The first sign of trouble Monday was a call at 8:11 p.m. to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. The caller reported a man with a gun at Lovers Lane and Big Bend Road.
When a deputy tried to talk to him, Best pointed a gun at the deputy, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter. More deputies soon arrived, and Best went into his mobile home at 12804 Lovers Lane.
He was alone inside the home, but his fiance and his daughter, Nikki Best, a time share saleswoman in Orlando, eventually came to the scene, Parrott said.
Deputies learned Best had been drinking most of the day and had handguns and a shotgun inside the home, Carter said.
The SWAT members arrived by 9 p.m., and negotiators got on the phone with Best in a conversation that lasted into the early morning.
After several hours, deputies told him they would shoot pepper spray into the home. As the gas filled the mobile home and SWAT members went inside, Best slipped through the floor and into the yard, Carter said.
Armed with a shotgun, he crawled toward deputies, she said. Two SWAT members demanded he drop the shotgun. Instead, Best raised the gun, and the deputies fired, fatally shooting him, said Carter.
He died at the scene.
Two deputies - Janak Amin, 38, and Rick Johnson, 40 - have been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the incident. Amin has worked for the Sheriff's Office for eight years, Johnson for 14.
Best's family believes he was trying to turn himself in after the Monday night standoff, not harm deputies, Parrott said.
"He was trying to surrender, and they just shot him," she said. "His own flesh and blood had to watch it."
News researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.