June 28 2012
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

DEPUTY INVOLVED IN SHOOTING WHILE SERVING SEARCH WARRANT

A Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy who was part of a team that was serving a search warrant Thursday morning shot and killed a man who armed himself with a rifle and refused orders to put down the weapon.

The shooting occurred at about 5:44 a.m., inside a home on State Road 11 in DeLeon Springs. The Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT Team along with patrol deputies and investigators had gathered at the house Thursday morning to execute a court-ordered search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. The SWAT Team had made entry into the residence and was in the process of going through the house room-by-room when a SWAT deputy was confronted by a man who armed himself with a rifle. The deputy took defensive action by opening fire after the man refused orders to put down the firearm. The shooting occurred in a second-floor bedroom. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been called in to investigate the shooting. Both are standard practices in officer-involved shootings. This is the first fatal shooting involving a Volusia County deputy in nearly six years.

Update: 10 a.m.

This morning’s search warrant was the result of an ongoing stolen property investigation. The deputy involved in the shooting is Deputy Benyamin Yisrael. He’s 36-years-old and has been with the Sheriff’s Office since February 2003.

Update: 1:40 p.m.

The subject who was shot and killed has been identified as 29-year-old Ross Lambert. He was a resident of the home where today’s search warrant was being served.