Body cam video of fatal deputy-involved shooting in Charlotte County released

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WSVN) — Newly released body cam video shows the moment a disturbance call resulted in deputies shooting and killing an unarmed man in Charlotte County.

Charlotte County deputies surrounded 42-year-old Elroy Clarke in Punta Gorda Wednesday in what began as a disturbance call between Clarke and someone he wanted kicked off his land.

But when deputies arrived they found out it was Clarke they needed to arrest.

He had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court along with a trespassing charge, however Clarke wasn’t surrendering without a fight.

The confrontation lasted more than 20 minutes during which Clarke was tackled and tased multiple times.

A deputy then pulled out a shotgun that shoots beanbag rounds, firing at least twice with no effect.

“Get on the ground! Less lethal. Get on the ground,” the deputy is heard yelling.

“In my 33 years I’ve never seen that before. The beanbag round is usually something that will take somebody down without a problem and he took three shots,” said Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell at a news conference

Clarke eventually charged at one of the deputies and shots were fired, Clarke ultimately losing his life.

“They tried everything they could. They used every piece of tool they had in their non-lethal tool box, but in the end Mr. Clarke’s decision to attack Magoon. He made that lethal decision,” said Sheriff Bill Prummell.

Deputies say the only thing they could have tried was taking him down with K-9 but the unit was too far out.

“We were not even confident in the K-9 unit from what you saw. I actually would’ve feared for the dog,” said Sheriff Bill Prummell.

The Sheriff’s Office sharing the video for transparency and to show this is something that did not need to happen.

“This is a tragic incident. None of us wanted this to happened. You can clearly see the deputies did not want this to happen. And now unfortunately, because of his decision there a children out there who are now fatherless.” said the sheriff.

The deputies involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave per protocol pending the outcome of the investigation.