Shooting of killer ruled justified

The state attorney sends his findings in a short letter. The deputies, on paid leave since the incident, go back on duty.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published September 20, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Sgt. Ronald Harrison, 55, was a youth football coach, a father and a stepfather. The report concluded "the use of deadly force ... was justified" in the shooting of Michael A. Phillips.

TAMPA -- The two deputies who fatally shot Michael A. Phillips hours after he ambushed and killed a veteran deputy were justified when they pulled the trigger, according to findings by Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober.

In a two-paragraph letter to Sheriff David Gee, Ober wrote that after interviewing witnesses and reconstructing the events following Sgt. Ronald "Ron" Harrison's death, he concluded "the use of deadly force ... was justified."

Deputies Shawn Dugan and Robert Scott Carr fired their weapons in the early morning of Aug. 15, after Phillips had armed and barricaded himself in his home at 1707 Village Court in Brandon, and began firing at deputies.

Three hours earlier, Harrison, a 27-year Sheriff's Office veteran, had been shot to death at an east Hillsborough County intersection shortly after he set up a DUI checkpoint.

It didn't take long for investigators to link Phillips to Harrison's death because Phillips' ex-girlfriend called dispatchers and said he told her he'd shot a deputy.

"We knew all along it had been the right course of action following the death of Sgt. Ronald Harrison," Sheriff's Office spokesman J.D. Callaway said Wednesday, regarding the use of deadly force.

Dugan, 29, and Carr, 31, who have been on paid leave since the incident, will return to full-time duty, Callaway said.

No one was home Wednesday afternoon at Phillips' mother's home. The Times was also unable to reach family members by phone.

Last month, Phillips' mother defended her son, saying he wasn't the cold-blooded killer people thought he was.

In addition to finding 14 bullet casings believed to have been fired from Phillips' stolen gun that night, investigators report that they found writings at the house suggesting Phillips harbored hatred against law enforcement officers and minorities.

Harrison, 55, was both. He was also a youth football coach, a father and a stepfather.

Harrison's cousin Artesa Bohannon, 49, who regards the slain deputy as a brother, said news of Ober's letter brings a hint of comfort.

"It does help a little bit," she said from her home in North Carolina, "but it doesn't change the fact that I lost my brother."

As investigators close the case this week, they expect today to release a full report into Harrison's shooting.

Bohannon said she believes the shooting will continue to nag at her even after the file is opened for public view.

"There will always be that question of why Sergeant Harrison? Why that night? Why in that place?" Bohannon said. "Those questions will never be answered."

Staff writers Colleen Jenkins, Catherine Shoichet and Alexandra Zayas contributed to this report. Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or (813 ) 226-3383.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 00:05:51]