- April 18, 2024
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Updated 5:11 p.m. July 2
A fugitive was transported to Halifax Health late July 1, after being shot multiple times by Flagler County Sheriff's deputies, according to Sheriff Rick Staly. The fugitive, a 30-year-old white male named Steven Barneski, first pulled a gun on the deputies. They were justified in using force, Staly said.
The incident occurred on Sabal Palm Street, in Bunnell. In a Facebook video in which Staly was being interviewed by a local TV station, Staly said deputies spotted a man who had two warrants for his arrest.
"He was well known to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office," Staly said, later showing the TV cameras a stack of papers that said represented 40 pages of arrest information from the fugitive's past, including weapons and narcotics charges.
The deputies pulled the man over. "As they tried to get him out of the car, he pulled a gun," Staly said. "Three deputies fired at him multiple times, and he was shot multiple times."
Even after being shot, Barneski continued to hold the gun and refused to comply with orders from deputies to drop his weapon, the Sheriff's Office later reported.
"Eventually they were able to disarm him to allow paramedics to get here to transport him to Halifax Hospital in Daytona," Staly said.
"The bottom line is this: If you pull a gun on a deputy sheriff, and you're a fugitive, you can expect to get shot."
RICK STALY, sheriff
"The bottom line is this: If you pull a gun on a deputy sheriff, and you're a fugitive, you can expect to get shot," Staly said. "Our deputies performed exactly as they were trained. It’s unfortunate that this suspect accelerated this incident to the point that he was shot."
Per policy, the case is now in the hands of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the deputies are on paid administrative leave, Staly said. He said the incident was traumatic for everyone involved: the fugitive, his family, the deputies, their families.
"We never want to shoot anybody, but sometimes suspects do things that cause a response," Staly said.
The deputies were protecting each other, he said.
"Everything I’ve seen, deputies did exactly what they should do — the way they were trained to defend themselves," he said, "and from my observation at this point, in talking to deputies involved, it's clearly a justified use of force."
