Holly MatkinLake County, FL – The convicted felon accused of shooting Eustis Police Captain Gary Winheim was killed during a gun battle with police on Thursday evening.
The manhunt for 37-year-old Jayson Aaron Colvin ended at approximately 7:30 p.m., after law enforcement officers tracked him to a wooded area near the location where Capt. Winheim had been shot, WKMG reported.
A Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) helicopter pilot spotted him hiding near a lake beneath a canoe, according to WTVJ.
A SWAT team moved in, but Colvin refused to comply with their commands, the LCSO told WKMG.
Colvin was shot during the gun battle that ensued, police said.
Colvin was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Officers located him, engaged him and he is deceased,” Eustis Police Officer Lauren Brown confirmed.
“He failed to comply with the SWAT team’s demands and the subject is now deceased,” Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said, according to FOX News. “Multiple deputies opened fire on the individual.”
No officers were injured during the altercation.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will handle the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, the New York Post reported.
The incident began at approximately 12:15 p.m. at a Shell gas station located in the Winn Dixie plaza near State Road 44 and State Road 19, Officer Brown said during a press conference.
Capt. Winheim was in the area of the gas station at the time, and reported that he heard the gunfire.
The captain, who was in an unmarked pickup truck, spotted Colvin speeding away from the Shell station and began following him, Eustis Police Chief Gary Calhoun said, according to FOX News.
Colvin opened fire on Capt. Winheim, hitting him in the neck. The bullet ultimately lodged in the captain’s spine.
“Another millimeter or so in another direction and it could have been a lot worse,” Chief Calhoun said, according to FOX News.
Additional officers arrived at the wounded captain’s location in less than a minute, and he was subsequently transported to a local hospital by helicopter.
Capt. Winheim, a 10-year veteran-of-the-force, is now in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery, FOX News reported.
Approximately 500 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers converged on the area during the manhunt for Colvin.
The convicted felon has served prison time on four occasions since 2000, according to FOX News.
His criminal history includes offenses of kidnapping, grand theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment, fleeing law enforcement, grand theft with a firearm, and armed burglary.
Colvin was most recently released from prison in January of 2018, after serving a seven-year stint for possession of a weapon or ammunition by a felon, the New York Post reported.
In March, he was charged with resisting an officer, possession of clonazepam, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to WKMG.
He was given a plea agreement for a one-year probation sentence in that case.
Colvin is also the prime suspect in a gas station robbery that occurred on Tuesday, WKMG reported.
That incident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. at the same Shell gas station on State Road 19, according to WKMG.
The armed suspect, believed to be Colvin, barged into the store wearing a goalie mask getup that closely resembled the one worn by the “Friday the 13th” character Jason Voorhees.
“The suspect stole an undetermined amount of cash from the register along with the clerk’s iPhone and Mazda 6I,” police said at the time.
Officers were still searching for the armed robber when the shooting occurred on Thursday.