Teen suspect shot by police in NW Cape Coral, expected to live
Cape Coral police are looking into what led to one of their own shooting and injuring a 15-year-old burglary suspect early Monday morning.
The teen was being treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The News-Press is not identifying the teen because of his age and he has yet to be charged. Family members declined to comment to The News-Press on Monday afternoon at their home.
Cape Coral police responded to the 500 block of Northwest 8th Terrace on a vehicle burglary in progress call at around 1:15 a.m. As officers arrived, the suspect, armed with a handgun, fled into a nearby canal, according to police reports.
The Cape Coral SWAT team, crisis negotiators, marine unit and a Lee County Sheriff's Office helicopter responded to assist. Officers spent more than two hours attempting to talk the teen out of the water.
According to police, the boy was shot when he pointed his gun at officers, but the investigation is ongoing. Charges are pending.
When asked if officers have found evidence that the teen had a gun on him at the time of the shooting, Spokesman Sgt. Dana Coston said he couldn't release anything further about the shooting.
"We are hard at work to bring this case to a close," Coston said.
Officers found a stolen vehicle parked in a lot near the burglary victim's home.
"Investigators believe the suspect may have driven this vehicle to this neighborhood to commit burglaries. The vehicle also may be linked to a gun store burglary that occurred overnight in North Cape Coral," the agency said in a release.
Coston said the following in a statement: "Investigators from the State Attorney's Office and detectives from our own Investigative Services Bureau are working to gather information to review the use of force to ensure it was in accordance with applicable law and department policy. This review is standard procedure in all officer-involved shootings.
The last officer-involved shooting in Cape Coral was in June when officers exchanged gunfire with and killed John Melvin Toles, 66, who police said was terminally ill.
Man identified in Cape Coral officer-involved shooting
Another officer-involved shooting in Cape Coral left Marsha Alexander hospitalized after a gunfight erupted at her Northeast 43rd Lane home early Oct. 24. An infant was also injured during that shooting.
In November, The Daytona Beach News-Journal released its "Shots Fired" investigation showing that Florida law enforcement agencies shot people an average of once every three days in 2013 and 2014.
Daytona newspaper investigates Fla. officer-involved shootings
One of the two Pulitzer Prizes recently won by The Washington Post was a database project cataloging the 984 people shot and killed by law enforcement officers in 2015. So far in 2016, the newspaper counts 377 such shootings.
Investigation: People shot and killed by police this year