A man armed with an AR-15 assault rifle shot three deputies’ vehicles in Marathon on Thursday night before apparently taking his own life, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched to an apartment complex on Sombrero Boulevard around 10 p.m. after the sheriff’s office received a call about a man throwing objects from the roof.
As the deputies approached the building, the gunman began shooting at their vehicles, according to the sheriff’s office.
A perimeter was established as a SWAT team and additional officers from the Florida Highway Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived to provide assistance.
A Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office helicopter crew spotted the man motionless on the roof. The SWAT team confirmed the man was dead, according to the sheriff’s office. He man was identified as 53-year-old Duane Clayton Day of Marathon.
“It appears this suspect took his own life before he could injure law enforcement officers or members of the public,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay, adding that Day was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and that he was recently divorced and also lost his job.
