MAN SHOOTS HIMSELF AT DEALERSHIP

A normally quiet day was turned upside down this afternoon in Wellington when an apparently distraught man drove onto the Harrison Ford dealership lot and shot himself in the head.

Wellington Police Detective Augie Aviles said that the man was driving a leased Ford Focus from the Harrison dealership but had disappeared and the car had been reported stolen. Detective Aviles said that the man showed up in town today at the dealership and as the Police Officer approached the vehicle the man pointed a gun at the Officer. “At that point as our Officer was drawing his gun the gentleman put the gun to his head and fired one round.”

Steve Hall, Salesman at Harrison Ford, said that one of their employees spotted the man driving into the downtown Wellington area in the Focus. “The next thing we knew the car was here in our parking lot with the Police right behind him. When I walked outside I could hear the gunshot then I saw the Officer draw his gun and yell for the man to drop his gun.” A few moments later Hall said that more Officers arrived and they used a trailer hitch to break the passenger side window out. By then he said it was obvious that the man had passed away. “We could see him slumped over the wheel inside the car with a pistol in his hand.”

Hall said that he has a lot of respect for the Officer who was first on scene and believes he did everything right. “I could hear him yelling for the guy to drop the gun and he approached the car breaking out the side window to try and get to the guy but it was too late. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, what a tough thing to see and be a part of but I guess that is his job.”

The dealership said that although they had notified the Police that the man had not returned the car they were not interested in filing charges on the man, they just wanted their car returned.

Wellington Police Department is investigating.

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