Daytona Beach Police Shooting Suspect Identified as Othal Wallace, $100K Reward Offered

The suspect in the shooting of a Florida police officer on Wednesday evening has been identified as 29-year-old Othal Wallace, as the authorities have offered a reward of $100,000 for information that leads to his arrest.

The shooting occurred at around 8:50 p.m. on the 100 block of Kingston Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida, after the unnamed police officer confronted Wallace, who was later publicly identified in a news release by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

Body camera footage released by the Daytona Beach Police Department on Wednesday evening showed the officer approach Wallace sitting in his car, a gray 2016 Honda HRV, and ask him if he lived in the area.

Wallace was filmed immediately getting out of his vehicle and asking "what's going on?" as the officer tried to calm him down and urged him to sit back down inside his car.

The suspect then said, "Come on now, come on now. Don't do this," as the officer put his hands on Wallace and attempted to get him to sit back down, before there was a struggle where the 29-year-old appeared to push the officer away.

Although the footage was grainy as it was shot in the dark, a struggle could be seen between the pair in the clip before a single gunshot was heard and the officer fell to the ground.

The Daytona Beach Police Department confirmed in a statement on Twitter that the officer was found by his colleagues lying on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound, minutes after he stopped responding to his radio. Wallace was no longer at the scene.

Later on Wednesday, the local authorities released a mugshot of Wallace and images of his car showing his license plate bearing CA tag 7TNX532, as it urged residents to provide any information that could lead to his arrest.

Chitwood announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Wallace, describing him as "armed & dangerous" and asking people to "please keep the @DaytonaBchPD officer and family in your prayers."

During a press conference on Wednesday night, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said that the officer was rushed to the Halifax Health Medical Center to undergo surgery and confirmed that the area is under lockdown as multiple agencies search for Wallace.

"This entire county is on lockdown until we track this coward down. So I'm grateful for every agency that's responded over here tonight to help us as they're committed to staying out here until we get this coward in custody," Young said.

The police chief tweeted an update on the officer's condition in the early hours of Thursday morning, as he confirmed that multiple agencies are still attempting to apprehend Wallace.

"No change in the status of my hero who was shot in the line of duty last night," Young tweeted. "He's fighting while all of us are praying Folded hands The manhunt continues for the coward responsible for this..."

Newsweek has contacted Chitwood and the Daytona Beach Police Department for comment.