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Deputy involved in Deltona gas station incident shot 2 people since March, investigators say

DELTONA, Fla. — A 26-year-old deputy fatally shot a 37-year-old man Thursday afternoon at a Deltona gas station after the man grabbed the deputy's Taser, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called shortly before 4:15 p.m. to the RaceTrac at Saxon Boulevard and Finland Drive after Jose Guillermo Flores Colon was in the business' bathroom for nearly 90 minutes, investigators said.

Deputy A. Chavez found Colon in the bathroom along with drug paraphernalia on the sink, deputies said.

Chavez tried to calm down Colon so he could be handcuffed, but Colon grabbed the Taser of another deputy, Deputy Shawn Adkins, who also responded to the call, investigators said.

"In response to the immediate threat posed by the now-armed subject, that deputy pulled his duty weapon and fired," a Sheriff's Office spokesman said.

Colon was killed in the shooting.

Adkins fatally shot another man who pointed a shotgun at him March 16 at a Deltona home, the sheriff's office said. Adkins was hired by the agency in October 2015.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the fatal shooting, and Adkins was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure for deputy-involved shootings.

Thursday's shooting was the fourth deputy-involved shooting in Volusia County this year. There were six in 2016.

Channel 9 reported last month that Volusia County Sheriff Chitwood commissioned an independent study of the agency's use of force.

The company is examining department policies and procedures to try to reduce the number of deputy shootings.