St. Lucie County - Thursday March 28, 2024: An armed man who refused to honor a court ordered eviction notice was shot and wounded by a St. Lucie County Sheriff Deputy (SLCSO) late Wednesday afternoon.
The armed man has been identified as 63-year-old George Jeffery Evans. The SLC Sheriff Deputy fired one shot that wounded Evans in the hand and arm. He was rushed to Longwood Hospital where as of Thursday afternoon he was in stable condition, under guard. He has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of armed burglary.
The shooting took place just before 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Indian Pines Indian Pines Village, a condo complex in the 6000 block of Indrio Road.
At a Thursday afternoon news conference SLC Sheriff Keith Pearson said the 34-year-old deputy who fired the shots is a highly decorated 10-year-veteran of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office. "We are extremely proud of him," said the Sheriff.
The deputy's name was not released, and he has been put on administrate leave with pay, which is standard practice in such cases.
On Wednesday morning, as the body camera footage below shows, Evans initially complied and vacated the unit he was living in. But Sheriff Pearson said Evans then returned to the condo Wednesday afternoon.
The Sheriff said Evans was not a squatter, he was "a tenant who was lawfully there, and didn't want to leave," said the Sheriff. Evans was living in the unit last year when it was sold. The new owner, said the Sheriff, went through a year long foreclosure process in court to have Evans evicted which culminated in the eviction notice on Wednesday.
"Let me be clear," said Sheriff Pearson, "this is a direct result of Evans escalation of the situation by making the decision to arm himself and point a firearm at our deputy." He said the shooting could have been avoided if Evans had complied with the court ordered eviction notice that was served to him earlier on Wednesday.
"Instead of complying with the court order, Evans choose to point a firearm at our deputy," said the Sheriff, "and the only thing to expect doing that is to be shot."