DESTIN, Fla. (AP) - A Tennessee man is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds after sheriff’s deputies in the Florida Panhandle say he pointed a gun at them during a confrontation outside a motel Thursday night.
The deputies were looking for Randy Carl Patton, 30, of Antioch, Tennessee, after being notified by police in Nashville that he was apparently suicidal, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office news release. Police in Tennessee told Florida authorities that Patton had texted his wife a photo of himself with a gun and made statement about committing suicide.
Deputies spotted his car at the Days Inn in Destin, which is west of Panama City Beach, Florida, around 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the release. Deputies were going to the office to check on Patton’s status when he came out of a room and confronted them.
Investigators said Patton initially complied with deputies’ commands but then raised a gun toward them. The deputies fired their weapons. Patton was struck multiple times and a 60-year-old woman who happened to walk out of a room was also struck in the leg.
The incident was captured on body cameras worn by the deputies.
The woman is being treated at a hospital in Fort Walton Beach. Patton was also taken to a hospital where he told medical staff that he was trying to get the deputies to kill him, according to the news release.
Patton now faces charges of resisting an officer with violence and assault on a law enforcement officer. He is still in the hospital. His condition wasn’t released.
The deputies were not injured. Investigators said they’ve been suspended with pay pending an investigation by the agency’s Office of Professional Standards.
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