Police: Palm Bay man killed after firing at officers

Investigators are looking into a domestic dispute that occurred in the hours leading up to a Palm Bay man firing on police in front of his home early Sunday and being fatally wounded by an officer in response.

The deadly shooting took place about 6 a.m., shortly after Palm Bay police officers responded to a house at 970 Castille Rd. to investigate a 9-1-1 hangup call.

Police identified the suspect as Bradford Leonard, 50, an auto-body shop owner.

Property records include two addresses for a Leonard on the same block in the neighborhood northeast of Emerson Drive and Jupiter Boulevard. Friends and neighbors at the scene said he was the owner and manager of Brad's Auto Shop in Palm Bay.

According to police, officers were dispatched to the home around 5:23 a.m. after someone at the house called 9-1-1 but then disconnected. When officers arrived, they were met by Leonard holding an unidentified caliber handgun.

Police said that Leonard fired on the officers, who quickly took cover. The officers returned fire.

At about 6:04 a.m., Leonard was fatally wounded. His body remained cordoned off in the driveway for several hours near the garage as police investigated the shooting.

The officer who returned fire was not injured and is talking with a private attorney from the Fraternal Order of Police.

Palm Bay Police Department Interim Chief Mark Renkens, who was alerted about the shooting during a trip to Lake Wales, arrived at the site by 10 a.m. and met with investigators. He identified the officer who killed Leonard as Derek Hollcroft, a two-year veteran of the department.

"Our officers have a very difficult job. They have to make split second life or death decisions and that's exactly what we have here," Renkens said.

Hollcroft, a military veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues Renkens added.

"He's a stellar officer, and he does an outstanding job," Renkens said at the scene.

As is routine in police shootings, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating and will present its findings to the state attorney's office in several weeks.

"We've been asked to come in and conduct an investigation," said FDLE Resident Agent-in-Charge John King, who was out talking with neighbors and other potential witnesses.

Palm Bay police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said witnesses and police officers are being interviewed to learn more about the incident.

Police say that a domestic dispute between Leonard and his wife took place before the shooting. The wife left the home with her children just before police arrived.

In an unusual twist, investigators are trying to determine if a woman in the home where the shooting took place accidentally made a series of calls to a complete stranger, begging for help.

Jay Sylvester, a nearby Palm Bay resident who started receiving a flurry of texts from the unidentified woman before the shooting, said he told the woman to call police. He also called police. Sylvester, who lives a few blocks from the shooting scene, said he didn't know the woman and that he was concerned for her well-being.

Renkens acknowledged that the exchange was being investigated.

Nearby residents living on the otherwise quiet neighborhood street were stunned and described Leonard as a good neighbor.

"He was an awesome and man and a great person," said Bill Wheeler, a neighbor who raised two flags to half mast in front of his home Sunday morning in tribute to Leonard. One was an American flag, while the other was the flag of the Marine Corps.

"He was a marine. He would do anything for you," Wheeler said, standing in his driveway, several yards away from the section of Castille that was roped off by crime scene tape.

"I've known him since the (2004) hurricanes. He was a good neighbor."

Another neighbor, Jamie Liatos, said she also knew Leonard and that her parents - who lived near Leonard - told her that they were home when they heard two loud gunshots.

"There were snipers in my parent's yard. I think (Leonard) came out of the house and didn't even realize the severity of what was going on," Liatos said.

"I just feel like a good man died this morning. There could have been some negotiating or something," said Liatos, adding that she called Leonard's daughter in Alabama to tell her what happened.

"I don't know what will happen with his business but he was doing auto-body work for years. He even did a lot of officers' cars. I just pray his family finds peace with this. But whether this thing is justified, we'll just have to find out," she said.

Today's incident is the fifth police-related shooting to take place in Brevard since October and the second in a week. Early last Sunday, a man in Melbourne was shot by a Melbourne police officer as the suspect's car drove in a threatening manner toward the officer during a traffic stop.

LAST WEEK: Melbourne PD officers shoot suspect