Volusia Deputy Shot Twice Responding to Battery Call

A deputy with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office has been shot twice while responding to call in Deltona. Jose Rivera was hit in the leg and shoulder while investigating a reported battery. The man accused of shooting Rivera is 31-year-old Luis Diaz Polanco. He was arrested on Monday. He remains in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond as of Tuesday. He’s been charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder. Confronting the Suspect According to the VSO, Rivera and a deputy trainee were responding to the battery call at 2684 Candler Drive in Deltona at around 4:30 p.m. They met Diaz Polanco and tried speaking with him, the VSO says. At this point he’s said to have gone back inside the house. “When the two deputies knocked on the front door to talk to him, he greeted them carrying a box and acted in complete surprise that the deputies were knocking at the door,” said Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Monday. “They asked him to put the box down and step outside, he slammed the door in their face and went back into the house.” The deputy trainee circled around to the back door at Rivera’s instruction, preparing for the possibility that Diaz Polanco would try and leave the area that way. Instead, Diaz Polanco allegedly came back out the front door with a handgun. Shots Fired Diaz Polanco is then said to have begun firing shots, two of which struck Rivera. Both parties fired an estimated four and six shots in the exchange, Chitwood said. One shot ricocheted off his body camera and into his shoulder. Another then hit his leg. Other deputies on-scene pulled Rivera to safety where he could receive medical care. Diaz Polanco was arrested at the scene of the shooting, uninjured in the frightening incident. Aftermath Rivera was treated for his injuries at Halifax Health / UF Health Medical Center in Deltona. Once he was stabilized there, he was airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. Fortunately, the VSO says he’s expected to make a full recovery. Chitwood even said he was joking with those treating with him the same day he was shot. “Deputy Rivera is in great spirits at the hospital with his family by his side,” Chitwood added in a Facebook post on Monday. “Thank you all for your support and prayers. I am absolutely grateful and thanking God tonight.” Two other individuals who were at the Candler Drive residence were detained at the time of the shooting. They were eventually cleared of involvement and not arrested. Chitwood said that Diaz Polanco was Baker Acted in June. The next month he was said to have gotten into a confrontation with a neighbor in Sanford, in which he allegedly threatened them with a gun. According to Chitwood, Lake Mary police list him as a “violent, schizophrenic, bipolar person” who’s prone to violence when off of his medication. A full investigation into the shooting will be conducted, with the VSO saying the current details are preliminary.