According to the Brevard County Sheriff’s office in Florida, 23-year-old deputy Austin Walsh was killed Saturday by his own roommate, who is also a fellow deputy, in an accidental shooting.
“This afternoon I have to stand here and talk about the loss of one of my deputies who I love so much as the result of the reckless actions of another one of our deputies, who I also love,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.
In a video on Facebook, Ivey said Walsh and his roommate, Deputy Andrew Lawson were at a home in Palm Bay early Saturday morning when the shooting occurred.
“He and Austin had taken a break from playing an online game with a number of their friends and were just kind of standing around talking. Lawson was holding a handgun, which he believed he had unloaded and at one point in their conversation, Lawson, thinking that the gun was unloaded, jokingly pointed the gun in Austin’s direction and pulled the trigger,” Ivey said.
Ivey said a single round was fired and struck Walsh, killing him.
Lawson immediately called 911 to summon help and then called Palm Bay police.
The sheriff said FDLE was called in to investigate and Lawson has since been charged with manslaughter.
He turned himself into the jail Sunday.
“Austin and Andrew were the best of friends and Andrew is completely devastated over what happened. Even with that, there is no excuse for this tragic and totally avoidable death,” Ivey said.
The sheriff said Walsh had worked as a member of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office since the age of 18 and prior to that was part of its Explorers program.
Ivey said his agency is in mourning. He also hopes a lesson is learned from this tragedy.
“Folks, this unnecessary and totally avoidable incident not only took the life of an amazing young man and deputy but it also forever changed the life of another good young man, who made an extremely poor and reckless decision,” Ivey said.
The crime of manslaughter is a second-degree felony in Florida and punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
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