Alachua County Sheriff Office deputies fatally shot 55-year-old Darian Holmes in the early morning of Sept. 13 after he pointed a gun at an officer.
Deputies responded to a call from the Holly Heights apartment complex in west Gainesville about a man with a gun banging on doors.
When the deputies got to the complex, the man was “recklessly brandishing” the gun, according to an ACSO Facebook post. He also made alarming comments that made officers believe he was in a state of crisis.
The deputies created a circle around the man with their cars in hopes that any shots fired would hit the cars and not any residents or apartments, ACSO spokesperson Chris Sims said.
Deputies tried to get Holmes to put the gun down for about 40 minutes. They also deployed a police dog to bite Holmes’ gun-holding arm so he would drop it.
When Holmes saw the dog coming towards him, he pointed his gun at the officer handling the dog, leading four other deputies to shoot him, according to Sims.
Holmes died at the hospital.
Holmes has seven previous felony convictions in Alachua County, including two for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. He has 14 total felony convictions, according to the ACSO Facebook post.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident, which is standard any time an officer shoots their gun, according to ACSO.
All four deputies are on paid administrative leave pending the investigation’s findings.
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_
Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies students serving as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice beat reporter. She previously served as a copy editor. She spends her free time running, traveling, having movie nights and going on random side quests with friends.
