LAKELAND, FL. (THECOUNT) — Michael Taylor has been identified as the teenage suspect killed while driving a stolen Camaro in a police-involved shooting in the parking lot of a Lakeland eatery early Wednesday.
Taylor, 17, was driving a stolen vehicle with a female passenger through a parking lot packed with nearly 200 people near Salem’s Gyros & More restaurant in Lakeland, when police opened fire, striking the teen.
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Lakeland Police Chief Larry Giddens said officers were forced to shoot at the vehicle.
Taylor then struck multiple parked cars and a light pole in the parking lot. He ended up ramming into a parked vehicle with such force the impact busted through a block wall, investigators said.
Following the violent crash, the unidentified female passenger exited the vehicle while yelling at officers to be on the lookout for a firearm located inside the crashed vehicle, officers said.
First aid was rendered on the scene. Taylor was transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
No officers were injured in the incident, investigators said.
Giddens said the officers will be placed on paid administrative leave while the case is under investigation. source
Anyone with possible information on the case should contact police at 911.
Lakeland is a Florida city, east of Tampa. Downtown’s Munn Park Historic District is known for its antiques shops and early-1900s architecture. Florida Southern College has several buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The city’s many lakes include Lake Mirror, with its promenade and neoclassical Hollis Garden. The Polk Museum of Art’s collection ranges from pre-Columbian artifacts to contemporary paintings, source wikipedia.