Video recovered from deputy’s bodycam hit with bullet amid Deltona shooting
By Pamela Comme
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DELTONA, Florida (WESH) — Newly recovered body camera footage shows the moment a Volusia County deputy was shot at, with investigators saying the video captures a suspect firing directly at the deputy’s chest before the camera went dark.
This all happened in March at a home off Candler Drive in Deltona, where Deputy Jose Rivera was shot while investigating an assault.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the footage clearly shows the suspect exiting the home and immediately opening fire.
“What you see clearly is the defendant coming out, pointing his arm and firing that first shot that disables the camera,” Chitwood said. “So the first shot hits the deputy in the chest.”
Investigators believe the bullet deflected off Rivera’s body camera, likely preventing a more serious or fatal injury.
Initial reports indicated Rivera had been shot twice, in the leg and shoulder, with the possibility that one round ricocheted off the camera. However, as Rivera continues to recover and undergo further medical evaluation, authorities now say he may have been struck three times.
“Now that he’s in physical therapy and they’re reexamining the wounds, they’re pretty confident that he was hit not twice, he was hit three times,” Chitwood said. “One into the body camera, one into the arm, and one into the thigh.”
Rivera is recovering at home.
Chitwood said investigators have obtained a confession in the case, but emphasized that the video alone strongly supports their conclusions about what happened.
“We know what happened,” he said. “And we’re pretty confident the facts are so strong here that we know where this is going. There is no doubt in my mind he had every intention when those deputies knocked on that door to kill them.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
The shooter, Luis Diaz Polanco, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of attempted murder.
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