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Florida officer kills 1 man, injures another after botched traffic stop

Posted at 11:41 AM, Jan 07, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-07 13:41:20-05

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida police officer killed one man and injured another in a botched traffic stop on Sunday, investigators said.

Officer N.E. Lawson attempted to stop a vehicle that was driving erratically — and the wrong way — down a street on Sunday night, police said at a news conference.

The police chase ended when the vehicle crashed into another car, injuring two people, before slamming into a pedestrian bridge, said T.K. Waters, chief of the investigations division for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Lawson approached the vehicle and "some sort of exchange took place and he ended up firing his service weapon several times," Waters said.

Two people were transported to the hospital. One person died and the other is in critical condition, according to police. Their identities haven't been released but Waters said they were both men in their early 20s.

This is Lawson's first officer-involved shooting and he was wearing a body camera, Waters said.

The incident is being investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney's Office.