ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri believes a St. Petersburg officer was justified when he shot and wounded a fleeing suspect Saturday night.
According to the sheriff, St. Pete officers responded to the area of Shady Side Meat and Grocery for reports of shots fired around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
They ultimately discovered that 28-year-old Germaine Small, who was armed with a handgun with a 50-round drum magazine, fired a shot at a gray Honda Accord just out of view of a surveillance camera.
However, the violence didn’t stop there.
Deputies say Small then walked down nearby 40th Avenue S. to a home where he fired two shots at a random victim, 70-year-old Lucky Hambrick, who’s blind.
“He said, ‘Turn around,’ but I didn’t hear him,” Hambrick said. “Then, he started shooting.”
According to Hambrick, at the time of the shooting, he did not know he was the intended target. One bullet struck the side of his home. The other shattered a window.
The St. Pete officers spotted Small about a block away, where the sheriff says Small shot at one of the officers before running behind a building at the back of a grassy lot.
When Small emerged on the other side of the building, the officer fired 13 shots at Small. One struck Small’s ear.
“Everything that I see here, it’s absolutely a justified shooting, and they did everything as well as it could be done,” the sheriff said.
According to the sheriff, Small dropped the handgun. He was arrested and sent to the hospital with minor injuries. No one else was hurt.
“This could have been, of course, exponentially worse, and you could have had a lot of dead bodies here,” Gualtieri said.
According to Gualtieri, Small had been released from prison in March after serving nearly nine years for armed robbery. Prior to that sentence, he had been charged with other felonies.
Despite the close call, Hambrick wishes he could talk to the 28-year-old suspect.
“I need to find out what made him do that,” he said. “My message is parents do a better job.”
According to Gualtieri, detectives are unaware of any motive.
“Really, it just appears to be a random act of violence,” he said.
Meanwhile, deputies would like to speak with the potential victim who was in the gray sedan in the food mart parking lot. Anyone with any information should contact the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
