Florida man armed with assault rifle, dressed in tactical gear, shot & killed by deputies: HCSO | FOX 51 Gainesville
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Florida man armed with assault rifle, dressed in tactical gear, shot & killed by deputies: HCSO

By , and FOX 13 News Staff
Published  April 24, 2025 12:06pm EDT
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FOX 13 News

Deputies had prior visits to man killed Wednesday

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen reports.

The Brief

    • A man dressed in tactical gear, holding a loaded assault rifle, was shot and killed by deputies while walking just south of Causeway Blvd., according to HCSO.
    • Responding deputies say they gave Vincent Morin multiple commands to drop his weapon, but he did not comply.
    • The incident unfolded on Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. near Windingwood Ave. and Providence Rd. in Brandon.

BRANDON, Fla. - Hillsborough County deputies shot and killed a man dressed in body armor after he was walking just south of Causeway Blvd. with a fully-loaded assault rifle, according to the sheriff's office.

Dig deeper:

HCSO says deputies responded after several people called 911 to report the armed man shortly before 7:30 a.m. near Windingwood Ave. and Providence Rd. in Brandon.

Deadly deputy-involved shooting: News conference

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says deputies shot and killed a man armed with a fully-loaded assault rifle in Brandon on Wednesday morning.

Investigators say the suspect, later identified as Vincent Morin, 34, was dressed in battle fatigues with body armor, along with a communications headset while carrying a fully loaded assault rifle. Two magazines were also in his body armor.

Responding deputies say they gave Morin multiple commands to drop his weapon, but he did not comply. Three deputies then shot Morin, who died at the hospital despite attempts by the deputies to save his life.

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

READ: 9mm cartridge found in parking lot on USF campus, police say

The backstory:

Morin first got on law enforcement's radar in early February after a bizarre interaction was caught on a Ring camera. The owner of the apartment with the footage said his tenants who live there had known Morin lived in the complex, but didn't know him personally. 

He said one day he showed up at the door while the tenant's kids were inside. He can be heard saying strange things on camera, asking for the kids to open the door. The interaction led deputies to do a welfare check on Morin, but they said he didn't meet the requirements to be baker acted.

HCSO identified the deputies who opened fire as:

  • Lt. William Gergel
  • Deputy Matthew Fluck
  • Deputy Courtney Baldwin

What they're saying:

"That suspect, whatever his intentions were, were not peaceful. You don't dress in Army fatigues with a tac vest with body armor, a fully loaded assault rifle and comms on your head to do anything peaceful," HCSO Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said at a news conference on Wednesday morning.

What's next:

HCSO says the deputies are on paid leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting, which is standard procedure.

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The Source: This story was written with information from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

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