MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. -- The Martin County Sheriff’s Office will not be releasing the names of the two narcotics detectives who shot Horace Brown during an undercover drug buy Tuesday.
The sheriff is allowed, by law, to withhold that information for the safety of the undercover detectives.
But, in an effort to remain transparent, the sheriff did make available the personnel records of both detectives with their identities redacted.
One of the deputies was first hired as a reserve deputy in 2011 then hired full time in 2012 as a road patrol deputy, before he was assigned to the unit that investigates drug cases in 2015.
The other was hired in 2000 as a Reserve Deputy and hired full time in 2003. He was accepted into the unit that investigates drug cases in 2005. He left the department in 2008 for a job outside law enforcement, but returned to the sheriff’s office in 2015. He’s been in the narcotics unit since 2016.
Both men have never had disciplinary problems or suspensions, and have multiple commendations.
A complaint affidavit shows one of the deputies shot Brown from inside his car when he said Brown was driving right toward him while trying to escape, and after hitting other vehicles.
Brown ultimately ditched his car and ran away on foot. The other deputy, according to the report, shot at Brown through his windshield.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said there were other deputies outside of their cars that could have been in danger.
Multiple shots were fired by both deputies. Brown was hit twice.
He remains in stable condition in the medical wing of the Martin County Jail.
He's been charged with more than a dozen crimes.
