Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons held a press conference Monday in which he showed video of a SWAT team member shooting a 58-year-old alleged hostage taker who was armed with a knife.
The alleged hostage taker, 53-year-old Ronnie Clark, had “58 felony convictions,” FOX News reported. Deputies found “him in a tent with a woman being held against her will” about 5 p.m. Sunday.
A five-hour standoff ensued, with negotiators trying to get Clark to release the woman. But Clark was allegedly holding a knife to the woman’s throat and ignored police requests.
Sheriff Simmons noted, “This tough guy has got her as a human shield.”
Video taken by a police drone showed deputies close in on Clark and a muzzle flash is evident when one of the SWAT team members takes Clark out.
ABC WEAR 3 published the video:
Sheriff Simmons commented on the incident, saying, “In situations like this, we care about human life. We care more about the hostage than the hostage-taker. The deputy had an opportunity to try to end this, because we cannot let this vehicle go. Our criminal escalated these events, and it cost him his life.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com