Man dead in deputy-involved shooting at County Road 512 convenience store; deputy unharmed

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - A Palm Bay man was shot and killed by a deputy who officials said the man attacked with a knife after assaulting customers of a convenience store late Sunday.

The shooting occurred shortly before 11 p.m. at a RaceTrac convenience store off County Road 512 at the Interstate 95 exit to the Fellsmere and Sebastian area, said an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office spokersperson.

Jeffrey Lee Miller, 42, struck a deputy while holding a knife and a vape pen and then attempted to chase the deputy and was shot multiple times and killed, said Sheriff Eric Flowers.

“…(The deputy) has no clue what’s going on here and all of a sudden this guy is attacking him with a knife,” said Flowers. “Our deputy makes distance; he’s drawing his firearm; the guy is chasing after him with the knife (and) that’s when he fires the shots (and) the man goes down.”

Flowers spoke about the scenario Monday afternoon in a news conference at the agency and narrated the deputy’s actions while showing body camera and store surveillance footage.

The deputy was called to a nearby McDonald’s for an unrelated disturbance when he heard sounds of a struggle from the convenience store.

He drove his patrol car into the RaceTrac pump area, and Flowers said two men were seen in camera footage waving their arms while being chased by Miller around a vehicle at the convenience store.

There was no known connection between the men and Miller, and Flowers said it was thought they were store customers.

Detectives are attempting to contact the men to learn more about what happened just before the attack on the deputy, he said.

“We believe that this guy thought that our deputy was there for him in response to what was going on there and he thought he was going to attack the deputy and our deputy did the right thing,” Flowers said.

The entire exchange from the time Miller approached, attacked and began pursuing the deputy, to the moment the deputy fired the shots was less than 3.5 seconds, Flowers said.

The deputy could be seen in the store footage kicking the knife away from Miller who was lying on the ground near the convenience store gas pump area.

Flowers said attempts to render first aid were taken after additional deputies arrived.

Miller and his wife were at the 9490 108 ^th Avenue RaceTrac after having traveled from Palm Bay to the Sebastian area that night.

Flowers said Miller was “seriously suffering from some major issues,” and had told his wife on the drive south that he “wanted to take out a Palm Bay cop” and that he had attempted to leave the car while traveling on Interstate 95.

Miller served time in prison and had a warrant for his arrest for a parole violation in Pennsylvania, Flowers said. Local court records show he was found guilty of battery and resisting an officer without violence in 2019, and burglary and robbery in 2002.

“He’s a known gang-affiliated, Nazi guy with serious mental health issues (and) with more arrests in other states,” Flowers said.

The deputy was put on paid-administrative leave as the agency conducts an internal investigation. Flowers said he was a “hero” for his actions.

The 44-year-old deputy was not identified, but Flowers said he had been with the agency since January after working for just over six years in law enforcement in Brevard County with time in both the Sheriff’s Office and as a Cocoa Beach police officer.

Flowers said Miller was struck multiple times, but did not say how many shots were fired by the deputy.

Miller died at the scene of the shooting and although the deputy was struck, Flowers said he was unharmed.

“We were out on it all night,” said Sgt. Kevin Jaworski.

What happens next?

Reached Monday, Chief Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell said Sunday night they had their own state attorney investigators at the scene following the deadly incident.

“As is our protocol, when there's a use-of-force by an officer that results in death, then I have an attorney in charge of the office in whatever county it is, as well as a major crimes prosecutor and a state attorney investigator all respond to the scene,” Gosnell said. “So that happened last night near Sebastian.”

Gosnell, who declined to discuss details of the fatal shooting, said the State Attorney’s Office conducts an independent investigation and will eventually present their findings to a grand jury.

“After the investigation is complete, on law enforcement’s end as well as our end … the case will be presented to citizens of Indian River County at a grand jury and they will determine the justification or not of that shooting,” Gosnell said.

The grand jury, he said, will specifically evaluate the officer’s use-of-force and “determine whether or not the officer should be charged criminally or not.”

“Obviously, if the officer is entitled under the law to be using deadly force, then a grand jury would not be looking to indict the officer,” added Gosnell. “And if not, then an indictment could be forthcoming.”

He expects an investigation to take several months to complete.

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Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246 .

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Man dead in deputy-involved shooting at County Road 512 convenience store; deputy unharmed