INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The 26-year-old man whom an Indian River County deputy shot during a domestic disturbance Monday night now faces charges of two counts of attempted murder and one count of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
The man, identified as Christopher Kyle Berk, also faces charges of one count domestic violence battery and one count battery.
He has not yet been booked into the county jail as he is still being treated at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center for three gunshot wounds.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Berk is in stable condition following surgery.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 26-year-old man with a loaded shot gun and 50 rounds of ammunition was shot by an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office deputy after the man allegedly pointed the shotgun at the law enforcement officer.
Christopher Berk of 20th Place S.W. in Vero Highlands is being treated at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce. He faces a litany of charges including attempted murder on a law enforcement officer.
The Monday night shooting was the first deputy-involved shooting since 2011 when there were two cases.
Sheriff Deryl Loar commended the deputy, who has been with the department for less than two years for acting quickly to avert a potentially bigger tragedy. Loar declined to name the deputy who has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard after a shooting.
“A tragic event turned into somewhat a successful evening,” said Loar Tuesday during a press briefing.
Loar said deputies were called at 11 p.m. Monday and were told that Berk had just struck his wife and his mother-in-law in the face and then fled the home in a vehicle.
The deputy arrived about three minutes later.
At 11:07 p.m. while standing in the doorway speaking to the family members and a friend of the suspect’s wife, Berk, Loar said, walked back to the house with a shotgun and backpack filled with the ammunition and took cover behind a vehicle.
The deputy ordered Berk to drop the shotgun several times. Instead, Berk raised it at the deputy and the others who were standing some 35 feet away. The deputy fired six shots striking Berk in the abdomen, the leg and the arm.
“He will survive,” said Loar of Berk.
Berk does not have a local criminal record, Loar said.
In the past year, deputies in Indian River County have responded to 182 domestic violence and domestic disturbance calls in the county. Such calls are considered some of the most dangerous for law enforcement officers as tensions are high and typically such calls revolve around alcohol and drugs.
A clear example of that risk was Monday evening when Berk came back to his house with a loaded shotgun and an arsenal of ammunition even though it was clear that a law enforcement officer was on the scene in a marked cruiser.
“He had 50 rounds; he wasn’t playing around,” said Deputy Jeff Luther.