VERO BEACH — A 39-year-old man who police said shot another man following an argument, barricaded himself in a home and led deputies on an hour-long standoff, was detained early Friday.
Michael Otis Lloyd
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Police arrested Michael Otis Lloyd, of the 1200 block of 24th Street, on charges of attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. Lloyd was held Friday at the Indian River County Jail without bond.
An update on the condition of the injured man, Samuel Foster, 29, Vero Beach, was not available.
.@VeroBeachPD investigating reports of a shooting off 12th Avenue in #VeroBeach. #VeroNews pic.twitter.com/Evr8Miss05
— Nicholas Samuel (@JournalistNickS) July 24, 2020
Police responded to reports of a shooting at 9:36 p.m. Thursday at Lloyd’s home. Officers arrived and found Foster with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, police said.
Foster told officers Lloyd shot him after a domestic argument, though it was unclear what the altercation was about. Foster was taken by ambulance to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Officers learned Lloyd fled the scene in a white van after the shooting. Detectives roped off Lloyd’s home with crime scene tape, spoke with witnesses and used K-9 dogs to comb through the area to search for evidence.
Indian River County sheriff’s deputies assisted police with the search, which lasted several hours. About midnight, police and deputies learned Lloyd was at a home with four other people on 65th Street, sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Eric Flowers said.
Flowers said Lloyd barricaded himself inside the residence and turned off his phone. The sheriff’s SWAT and crisis negotiation teams responded to the incident.
Flowers said the crisis negotiation team worked with Vero Beach police to bring the four people out of the home, one-by-one. The SWAT team used a loud speaker to get Lloyd to come out, but he refused.
The standoff lasted about an hour, Flowers said. Then, the SWAT team deployed gas inside the home, prompting Lloyd to come to the front door without a weapon.
Deputies took Lloyd into custody about 2:45 a.m. and turned him over to police, officials said. Police recovered the firearm used in the shooting.
Officers also towed Lloyd’s van to the police department pending a search warrant. Police arrested Lloyd and took him to the county jail for booking.
Photos by Nick Samuel
