Suspect wanted in South Florida murder who was shot, killed by JSO officers in Clay identified

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — UPDATE, 5/22/23, 8:38 a.m.- JSO identified the suspect as 39-year-old Zonchez Delarfette Prince.

Below is a picture of the gun he used in the shooting.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says that a man wanted for murder in Broward County was shot and killed on Friday evening in the parking lot of an Orange Park strip mall.

The incident that took place this evening all began about a week ago. Broward County contacted Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to help in a murder investigation.

JSO executed a search warrant on a residence and a vehicle that might have been connected to the suspect. Two different pistols were recovered and that information was relayed back to Broward County law enforcement.

As of yesterday, Broward officials once again reached out to JSO after an arrest warrant was issued.

JSO SWAT began tracking the suspect.

It was on Friday evening that SWAT located the suspect in a parking lot at the 1100 Block of Park Ave.

Upon making contact with the suspect, SWAT performed a tactical ‘Blocking Technique’ where the suspect’s vehicle was pinned in, preventing escape.

At this point, the suspect said, “I’m not getting out. You’re going to have to shoot me, kill me,” a JSO spokesperson said the suspect told officers.

As officers continued to tell the suspect to exit the vehicle, the suspect pointed a handgun in their direction. JSO officers fired at the suspect with their weapons. The suspect was pulled out of the sedan and given first aid but he did not survive.

During a round of questions, Sheriff T.K. Waters interrupted reporters.

“An officer is not required to let someone shoot at them before they use deadly force, Waters said. “That has never been ok and it’s not ok in this situation.”

This was the second officer-involved shooting for the two JSO officers involved in this incident. This shooting also marks the 7th total officer-involved shooting for JSO in 2023.