GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An off-duty Jacksonville sheriff’s detective was taking his son to school when he was shot and critically wounded by a 19-year-old man who told his girlfriend minutes earlier that it was “going to be his last day on Earth,” police said Wednesday.
The plainclothes narcotics detective chose to stop Kevin Rojas’ white Cadillac after seeing it driving erratically, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief Tom Hackney said. Rojas had just threatened his girlfriend with a gun and fired shots in their house before taking off in his car.
“It was bad luck that the officer encounters him immediately after this,” he said.
The detective, who is not being identified because he works undercover, was wearing a “body armor” style vest when he stopped Rojas’ car, Hackney said. He was taking his son to school, then continuing on to work. The word “police” was marked clearly on the vest.
Rojas immediately opened fire, Hackney said, hitting the detective in the head, upper body and hand. The detective was in critical but stable condition and alert at a hospital. The detective returned fire, but missed.
Rojas ran away from the shooting scene and stole a large flatbed truck from a nearby business, Hackney said. The detective, whose 14-year-old son was in the car but unharmed, managed to call for help.