CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Clearwater Police Department (CPD) said a woman with a drill gun was hospitalized after a confrontation with Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) deputies on Tuesday morning.
Officials said deputies encountered a woman in the 2000 block of Capri Drive at around 2 a.m. on Feb. 3 after a 911 call with little communication was dispatched as an unknown problem.
Police said the woman, identified as 40-year-old Megan Ratcliffe, indicated that she was armed with a handgun and had her hands concealed within her jacket.
CPD said deputies then retreated to a safe location and began negotiations with Ratcliffe as they established a contact team.
Officials said while deputies were establishing a contact team and negotiating with her, she was out of sight, and about 18 minutes later, she appeared in the roadway.
According to police, deputies challenged her and told her to show her hands and she slowly approached them.
TPolice said she continued to approach, began to accelerate quickly and rapidly pulled her hand out of her jacket and produced what was later determined to be a cordless drill.
Police said that, upon seeing that retrieved rapidly from her pocket after she had already indicated that she was armed, two deputies opened fire.
CPD said deputies immediately rendered aid and determined she was struck by 1 bullet. Officials said she was transported to the hospital and is currently undergoing surgery.
In a press conference a few hours after the incident, CPD Chief Eric Gandy said, "I'm here to tell you, having watched this video as the lead investigative agency, the case here is clearly a situation of suicide by cop."
PCSO identified the two deputies involved in the incident as Corp. Gary Wilson and Dep. Alison Nextine. PCSO also said both will be placed on paid administrative leave as part of the investigative process.
Detectives from the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force are actively investigating the incident.
This is a developing story. Tampa Bay 28 will provide more details as they become available.
How journalists battle the rise of AI fake news
As News Literacy Week kicks off in partnership with Scripps News, Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska sat down with fact-checkers at PolitiFact to learn how they combat misinformation in the age of AI.
