22-032 ***UPDATE Sheriff Gualtieri Provides Update to Officer-Involved Shooting*** Detectives Investigate Pinellas Park Police Department Officer-Involved Shooting
Taskforce Investigation
***UPDATE as of 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, 2022***
PINELLAS COUNTY –On Thursday, April 21, 2022, Sheriff Gualtieri held a press conference to discuss updates and provide additional information on the officer-involved shooting that occurred on April 19, 2022.
Sheriff Gualtieri provided surveillance video and Body Worn Camera footage which depicted the chaotic scene and timeline of events that occurred at the Circle K located at 4900 Ulmerton Road. Sheriff Gualtieri stated, “This officer was ambushed. There was absolutely nothing he could have done other than what he did and this is what cops do every day.”
Sheriff Gualtieri also provided a synopsis of Brockington’s criminal history and the events that led up to the shooting. When speaking of Brockington, Sheriff Gualtieri stated, “He is the epitome of a true bad guy, this is a guy that has absolutely no care for anybody else.”
The full press conference can be found here: https://youtu.be/YJMRoblYqH8
***END of UPDATE***
**Original Release**
Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force
-Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
-Clearwater Police Department
-St. Petersburg Police Department
Pinellas Park Police Department
Calvin Laroy Sinclair Brockington Jr. (Suspect – Arrested)
DOB: 03/04/1998
Address: 2020 18th Avenue South Apt 7, St. Petersburg
Charges: Pending
Pinellas Park Police Officer Jacob Derr (Officer – Injured)
Age: 30
Date of hire: 09/08/2021
Pinellas Park Police Officer KC Gavin (Officer – Uninjured)
Age: 37
Date of hire: 08/15/2018
PINELLAS COUNTY - Detectives assigned to the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force are investigating an officer-involved shooting.
At approximately 9:50 p.m. on April 19, 2022, Pinellas Park Police Department officers responded to the Circle K located at 4900 Ulmerton Road after reports of a domestic disturbance between a male and a female.
According to detectives, the female reported the suspect threatened her, therefore she locked herself in the bathroom inside Circle K. Officer Derr arrived on scene and attempted to make contact with the suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Calvin Brockington. Detectives say while in the parking lot of Circle K, Brockington walked toward Officer Derr and shot him in the right bicep, incapacitating him.
Detectives say when Officer Gavin arrived on scene and confronted Brockington, he shot at her. Officer Gavin returned fire, but did not strike him. Brockington then carjacked a vehicle in the parking lot, drove toward Officer Gavin, then fled the scene. Brockington traveled east bound on Ulmerton Road where Pinellas County Sheriff Office deputies and the Flight Unit began to pursue him. Brockington then entered onto I-275 and fled southbound, where he exited in the area of 928 22nd Avenue South. Brockington was confronted by deputies and taken into custody.
Officer Derr was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.
Brockington was taken into custody and several charges are pending.
In 2020, the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Taskforce was created to ensure the investigations conducted into law enforcement use of deadly force are thorough, complete, and objective. The purpose of this taskforce is to make sure that officer-involved shootings in Pinellas County are investigated by an independent agency and not by the agency involved in the use of deadly force.
Sheriff Gualtieri held a press conference on scene and it can be found here: https://youtu.be/0IAD5RfHrIE
The investigation continues.
