FLORIDA: Brevard deputies ambushed during traffic stop

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MELBOURNE, Florida — Newly released video shows the moment Brevard County Sheriff deputies were ambushed during a traffic stop. The incident took place on August 30, during a traffic stop ... MELBOURNE, Florida — Newly released video shows the moment Brevard County Sheriff deputies were ambushed during a traffic stop. The incident took place on August 30, during a traffic stop along U.S. 192 in West Melbourne. According to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, deputy Brian Potters and deputy Tyler Thoman were talking to two people outside the vehicle that was pulled over. Potters noticed a 2-month-old baby and a dog in the backseat seated next to a man, later identified as Paris Wilder of Cocoa. When Potters asked Wilder to exit the vehicle, Wilder got out of the back of the car and began shooting at Potters with a rifle. Video shows the deputies take cover behind the patrol vehicle. Potters can be heard telling Thoman he was shot. Wilder suddenly emerges out of the back of the squad car and hits Potters on the head with his rifle who falls to the ground, the footage shows. Police say Wilder repeatedly hit Potters in the head as he laid on the floor. Deputy Thoman then opened fired on Wilder killing him. Potter suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, multiple head lacerations, a concussion, and fractures in his face. He is expected to make a full recovery. In a media release, Sheriff Wayne Ivey described Wilder as a “violent, career criminal, with a history of 40 charges for crimes including drug trafficking, aggravated assault while discharging a firearm, battery on a law enforcement officer, and attempted first-degree felony murder.” He also added that Wilder “was actually out on bond with active warrants for additional felony drug trafficking cases.” The two other people at the traffic stop returned to the scene and cooperated with the deputies after the ambush. Show more