ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 28-year-old man is back behind bars after a shootout with St. Petersburg police officers on Saturday.
The string of shootings began just after 5:30 p.m. outside of Shadyside Meat and Grocery, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said while presenting the results of the sheriff's office investigation on Tuesday.
That's where Germaine Small was seen firing one round from his Glock 43x 9mm handgun into a Honda Accord with the driver inside, according to the sheriff. Small fled south before stopping outside of a home on 40th Avenue S.
Gualtieri said Small then shouted "Hey man! Hey man!" at a 73-year-old man sitting in front of his home before firing two rounds, causing the man to run inside.
10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo spoke to that man who says he's lucky to be alive after not hearing Small yelling at him to turn around.
"I just heard pop pop! I didn't know it was at me," Lucky Hambrick said.
The man who's lived there for nearly 12 years is partially blind and was on the phone at the time. Days later, the bullet marks are still etched in his home.
"I hadn't even seen those. My nephew the one who seen that," Hambrick said.
Small continued onto 17th Avenue S where he was spotted by officers Dale Johnson and Andre Sousa.
When Officer Sousa pulled into the open lot, Small attempted to flee, shooting at Officer Sousa as he ran behind a house, according to the sheriff.
Officer Sousa returned fire, shooting 13 rounds at Small from about 30 feet away. One shot struck small in the head, although Gulatieri said it was "not a penetrating wound."
Small dropped his gun and was taken into custody by officers Johnson and Sousa. He was released from the hospital on Monday and transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
The entire incident, which spanned about six minutes, was captured on both security camera and police body camera.
“This is really textbook and Officer Sousa and Officer Johnson did a great job with this," Gulatieri said.
Small was charged with one count of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.
Small was just released from prison on March 2 after serving nine years. The sheriff explained that due to Florida's Prisoner Releasee Reoffender law, Small now faces mandatory life in prison with no opportunity for release.
"It’s absolutely a justified shooting and they did everything as well as it could be done. I see no issues or problems with it at all," Gulatieri said.