A man armed with a rifle held a woman hostage before turning the gun on himself Tuesday night.
Alachua County deputies received a phone call at about 8:30 p.m. from a woman saying 49-year-old Timothy Loren Brower had a rifle and was threatening to kill himself.
Before police had the chance to arrive at 14114 NW 173rd St. in Alachua, the woman said she left the residence, got inside of a white GMC van and locked the doors for safety, according to a release.
But after the woman locked herself in the van, Brower smashed a window to get inside — still armed with a rifle — and drove away from the residence, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Becky Butscher wrote in an email.
When police caught up to the vehicle traveling south on Interstate 75, they were able to confirm that the woman who called deputies was inside of the van with Brower.
Police believed the woman was being held hostage and began to pursue the car.
Brower drove to a home at 211 SE Wacahoota Road in Micanopy.
When he stopped, he exited the car with the rifle, a release said.
Police witnessed him dragging the woman out of the car and walking toward the house, ignoring their commands to stop.
Making his way over to the residence, a deputy fired shots at Brower in an effort to protect the woman as well as potential residents inside the home and the deputies at the scene.
Brower then turned the gun on himself.
He was pronounced dead on scene.
A pending autopsy report will determine the official cause of Brower’s death.
The deputy involved has not been identified and is on administrative leave until the investigations are complete, per standard procedure.
Including the Brower incident, there have been 11 officer-involved shootings by the sheriff’s office in the last five years, Butscher said, the last one being July 21 in Gilchrist County.
In 2013, there were a total of 31 suicides in Alachua County – more than double the amount of homicides that year, according to the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition.
Gilchrist County, where Don Spirit killed his daughter, six grandchildren and then himself on Sept. 18, had a total of two suicides and one homicide in 2013.
Brower had two traffic violations in 2009 – for operating a mobile vehicle with an expired registration and driving with a suspended license.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/16/2014]
An officer with the Alachua County Sheriff’s office patrols the crime scene on Southeast Wacahoota Road on Tuesday night.
