During a scuffle,

an Osceola County deputy shoots and kills a man.

The Osceola County sheriff says he believes his deputy was justified in fatally shooting a man Sunday during a scuffle after a failed traffic stop. A driver along Florida’s Turnpike saw a man driving erratically about 11 p.m. near mile marker 196 and called authorities, Sheriff Russ Gibson said at a press conference Sunday afternoon. Deputy John Stubbs, a two-year veteran of the agency, stopped the driver, Carlos Garcia Petrovich, but he was “not cooperative” and fled, Gibson said. Since it was a traffic infraction, Stubbs couldn’t chase after Petrovich, Gibson said. He drove around the area and spotted Petrovich stopped at a Pilot gas station at 3050 State Road 60 in the Yeehaw Junction area. Stubbs approached the driver and tried to arrest him but he ran. Gibson said Stubbs chased on foot to the other side of the gas station and called for backup but Petrovich became violent and the two ended up in a scuffle. Stubbs was bitten and “attacked,” Gibson said. That’s when Stubbs pulled out his gun and fired, killing Petrovich, Gibson said. “The deputy thought his life was in peril,” Gibson said. “He was alone and called for backup … He did what he had to do to end that threat on his life.” Stubbs was treated at a local hospital for “superficial injuries,” Gibson said, adding he’s expected to be OK but was “pretty shaken up.”