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LAKE MARY, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Seminole County sheriff's deputies have identified the man shot and killed by Lake Mary Police on Tuesday night as 34-year-old David Romansky, of Longwood. They said he is a man with a lengthy arrest history.
Investigators said this all happened after a driver called police saying a man had pointed a gun at him during a road rage incident.
“I was on Lake Mary Blvd. A white Ford Explorer pulled off I-4, merged extremely fast on Lake Mary Blvd. I honked my horn, got up beside him, I did yell at him a little bit, looked over at him he pulled a gun out of his center console and showed it,” the caller told the non-emergency line. “I just don't want nobody to get hurt because I don't know what was going on with this guy.”
That driver told the operator the driver of the white Ford Explorer was wearing a bright green or yellow shirt and where he was going.
“He got a flat tire and I saw him pulling into the Gator's parking lot there.”
The first officers arrived on scene, telling investigators they ordered the suspect to get out of his car several times. When Romansky finally got out, the Sheriff's Office said he had a gun in his hand as he stood in a parking lot, surrounded by restaurants that were filled with families and children. Officers fired at Romansky and he died on scene.
According to court records, Romansky is no stranger to law enforcement. Court records indicate that, since Romansky turned 18, has been arrested at least 12 times in Florida on charges ranging from DUI to burglary to battery and attempted escape. Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell sid Tuesday night, Romansky left his officers with few choices.
“The officer must clearly see an imminent threat to themselves and to citizens to be able to go to that level of force. It would appear to me three officers at the same time, three very well trained officers, made the same observations,” said Chief Bracknell.
The three officers involved in the incident are on paid administrative leave, which is typical during an investigation into a police involved shooting. Chief Bracknell said those officers will be interviewed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Friday. The chief also said the video tells a story, and that each officer had a body worn camera on as well as dashboard cameras in their vehicles.