On Sunday, September 5, 2021, at approximately.8:07 p.m., deputies responded to the area of Fairway Drive and Harrison Drive in Dunedin after being dispatched to a report of three suspicious male subjects in the neighborhood.
When deputies arrived on scene to make contact with the male subjects, one of the subjects, later identified as 18-year-old Myles Abbott, fled from the deputies. K-9 deputies began a track and as Abbott ran, he fired a gun at nearby citizens. Abbott continued to flee and climbed onto the roof of a private residence located in the 1000 block of Michigan Boulevard. At some point while he was fleeing, Abbott fired his gun and struck himself in the right thigh.
Deputies from the Flight Unit located Abbott on the roof and advised he was armed with a gun and was pointing it toward deputies that were located on the ground.
Deputies attempted numerous times to communicate with Abbott from an armored vehicle, but he would not surrender.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and the Negotiator Response Team were called to assist. Deputies also brought Abbott’s sister to the scene in an attempt to communicate with him, which was unsuccessful.
After nearly 6 hours, specialized equipment and bean bag rounds were used to force Abbott off the roof. Deputies from the SWAT Team took Abbott into custody and he was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg for treatment of his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deputies recovered the firearm and later determined it to be stolen.
Abbott will be transported to the Pinellas County Jail once medically cleared.
Abbott is charged with Loitering and Prowling, two counts Aggravated Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer, two counts of Aggravated Assault, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Grand Theft of Firearm, and he also had a warrant for Vehicular Homicide.
The two additional subjects taken into custody were identified as 16-year-old Skyi Julien and 18 year-old Ki’moni Anderson. Both were in possession of stolen firearms.
Julien was charged with Grand Theft of a Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Possession of a Firearm by Person Under 18 and was transported to the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center.
Anderson was charged with Grand Theft of a Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, Felon in Possession of Firearm and was transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
Information on Abbott and his previous arrest for vehicular homicide can be found here. A passenger in a stolen Camaro died when Abbott crashed into a tree in St. Petersburg. https://iontb.com/serious-injury-crash-involving-stolen-vehicle-st-petersburg/
The investigation continues.