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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, have responded following the shooting and critical wounding of a Jacksonville police officer.
Sheriff T.K. Waters informed reporters that Officer Malik Daricaud, 25, who has been with the sheriff’s office for two years, was in a “tenuous condition” and “fighting for his life” while receiving medical treatment at an area hospital.
While conducting a follow-up investigation related to a prior traffic stop, Daricaud and another officer were shot at a home in Westside early on Sunday. The driver had evaded the police in the earlier incident by speeding away.
“This morning, Officer Malik Daricaud was shot in the line of duty and remains in critical condition. @CaseyDeSantis and I are praying for his recovery and the entire @JSOPIO community during this time,” the GOP governor and potential 2024 presidential contender noted on Twitter.
Waters noted that after he arrived at the hospital, Daricaud was awake, and he was able to converse, but he remained in critical condition.
“When I was there this morning, he was in a lot of pain and was saying things. But the way it was explained to us, he was still in a really tenuous situation, and we’re just hoping he makes a full recovery,” said Waters, adding that his officer is married with children.
Daricaud was shot at approximately 4:30 a.m. by Tyliko Maduro, 32, at Maduro’s residence on Ridgeview Avenue. After knocking on the door of the house and receiving no response, Maduro’s mother unlocked the front door for police, leading to the shooting.
A video recorded by Daricaud’s body camera and played for reporters by Waters showed that the officer was shot while standing outside behind the woman.
Daricaud fell backward and collapsed onto the ground after being hit by the first of several shots fired. The suspect, who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, can be seen in the video waiting for the officers and pointing the rifle from behind a couch or chair before firing. Daricaud remained motionless on the ground after falling, and his body camera was angled toward the sky, the outlet reported.
According to Waters, Maduro’s mother and other police officers were not injured during the incident. Maduro died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a standoff with police that lasted throughout the morning.
Police did not fire any shots during the incident or subsequent stand-off.
Daricaud and another officer had gone to Maduro’s home to talk with him about a previous traffic incident, the Times-Union reported. Police said Maduro had fled the scene on March 19 after being pulled over by other Jacksonville police officers for running a red light. Police did not pursue him at that time since it was just a traffic offense.
“I believe all they were going to do was ask some questions,” Waters said of his officers’ Sunday visit to the suspect’s home. “They weren’t going to kick his door down. There was no probable cause for that.”
Neither officer had their weapons drawn when they knocked on the door of the home were Maduro was ultimately waiting to ambush them. However, Waters said the other officer with Daricaud had his Taser drawn as a precaution.
The officers attempted to contact Maduro by knocking on the front door, but he didn’t respond. They then reached out to Maduro’s mother, who agreed to come to the house and let them inside. As they approached the front door together, she unlocked it and opened it. A friendly dog emerged from the house, and suddenly gunfire erupted before Daricaud fell to the ground, said the outlet.
“X-ray 461 is down,” said an officer who radioed in from the scene.
“He [Maduro] did fire a couple different volleys of shots from the house, eventually killing himself,” Waters told reporters, adding that the suspect had no prior serious convictions or other indicators he was violent.
