Update: Gunfire ends standoff between sheriff, suspect // photos

PANAMA CITY — An armed man wanted in connection with an aggravated battery that left his wife paralyzed last week was in critical condition Tuesday night after an hour-long standoff with law enforcement officers ended with an exchange of gunfire with Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen.

Officials initially announced Aaron Lepak, 40, had died after trading gunfire with McKeithen at the Budget Inn, 3910 U.S. 98, at about 4:40 p.m., but they said emergency personnel were able to get a pulse back. Lepak had barricaded himself in the motel Tuesday as officers attempted to serve a warrant on him for the aggravated battery incident last week, according to BCSO officials.

As traffic and pedestrians began to amass outside the motel, Sheriff McKeithen and several officers gained access to Lepak and attempted to convince him to surrender peacefully. Negotiations became tense before both sides fired a shot and Lepak was critically wounded, officials said.

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“Lepak was growing increasingly agitated,” said Ruth Corley, BCSO spokeswoman. “Sheriff McKeithen noticed he was getting more despondent and waving his gun around, and the situation began to get out of hand in terms of danger. It escalated way beyond what was acceptable.”

Lepak waved his gun in a reckless manner toward officers when McKeithen fired, Corley said.

Lepak also discharged his firearm, she added.

One of the Budget Inn’s tenants, who requested to not be named, said warrant officers pounded on the door of neighboring room 31 at about 3:30 p.m., demanding the person inside open up.

“He yelled back, ‘I got a pistol, and I’m not coming out,’ “ the neighbor said he could hear through the separating wall. “That’s when all hell broke loose.”

At one point, the neighbor said, he could hear Lepak demand to speak with his mother in person as the motel was evacuated. She waited on scene as negotiations continued. An hour later, shrieks of the woman identified as Lepak’s mother pierced the humming of engines along the busy highway.

Before the shooting began, numerous Panama City police and BCSO surrounded the 3-acre property of the Budget Inn. SWAT crews edged closer to the room in flak jackets, with assault rifles drawn. Messages were being relayed on the status of negotiations through the cracked door of room 31. Lepak was presumed armed and dangerous because of the circumstances surrounding his charge of aggravated battery.

Lepak, a Springfield resident, was wanted in connection to a domestic violence issue between he and his wife July 27. A warrant for his arrest was issued Friday when he allegedly fled his home, taking a handgun with him.

Details of the incident were unclear Tuesday. However, Rhonda Lepak is currently in critical condition, paralyzed, in a local hospital as a result of the incident, BCSO said.

A check of the Bay Circuit Clerk’s website shows Lepak has been charged with several felonies over the past two decades.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be conducting an investigation of the shooting. McKeithen was placed on administrative leave pending a preliminary investigation, standard procedure in a deputy-involved shooting. 

 An earlier version of this story appears below:

PANAMA CITY — A man has barricaded himself into a local motel Tuesday afternoon as law enforcement negotiates with him to come out.

Few details were immediately available Tuesday, but law enforcement from several agencies were working the scene at the Budget Inn on U.S. 98 in Panama City. The man is believed to be armed.

At 4:45 p.m., reports from the scene indicated the man had been shot and was critically wounded. He was being transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Westbound traffic on U.S. 98 in the area of the motel, which is between Isabella and Drummond avenues, should expect delays as law enforcement works the scene.

A News Herald reporter and photographer are on the scene and will update this story as information becomes available.