'Bang bang bang!': Shoppers panicked by deadly police shooting

LAKE MARY, Fla. — Three officers from the Lake Mary Police Department are on administrative leave after fatally shooting a 34-year-old Longwood man with a gun at a Lake Mary shopping plaza.

"He didn't point it at me," the man said in a 911 call. "He just showed it."

David Romansky had pulled in to the parking lot of the Jeremiah's Italian Ice near West Lake Mary just east of I-4, Seminole County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said.

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Three Lake Mary police officers approached Romansky's SUV and asked him to get out of the car. When Romansky did get out, police say he showed a gun. At least one of the officers shot him, Cannaday said. It's not clear if Romansky fired a shot at police, she said.

People shopping in the area heard the gunshots and took cover.

"All of the sudden, bang bang bang bang bang!" said shopper Elizabeth Prescott, who told Channel 9's Samantha Manning she hid in a bathroom when she heard the shots.

"I'm very shaky, to tell you the truth. I'm still kind of in shock,” Prescott said.

Some shoppers couldn't access their cars while police investigated in the parking lot.

The Sheriff's Office said Romansky had been arrested 10 times since 2011 for various felony and misdemeanor charges. He once told officers he has bipolar disorder, officials said.

Records said Romansky was arrested in May at Rachel's, an adult club in Casselberry, after he approached patrons in the parking lot with a knife.

An arrest report said he refused to come out of a bush in which he was hiding. It took four officers to put him into a police car, the report said.

Officials said the officers involved in Tuesday's shooting are a Lake Mary police sergeant, a supervisor, and another officer.

"Obviously the officers felt there was a threat,” Cannaday said. "This is a busy area, so there are a lot of interviews to conduct, footage from nearby businesses, and possibly some bodycams."

Investigators have not released the names of the officers.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

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