A bail bondsman who was shot six times while attempting to arrest a wanted man at an apartment complex in Wesley Chapel, Florida, has said he is “lucky to be alive”. Two Pasco County sheriff’s deputies were also injured during the ensuing standoff.
Richard Halleck, 43, was taken to St Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa after the shooting at The Enclave apartments early on Thursday, 10 September. He said the suspect, Henry Josena, 29, opened fire with an AR-15 after Halleck and two fellow bondsmen entered the property.
“When we opened the door, the room was dark and he ambushed me,” Halleck said. “He shot me six times with an AR-15.”
Wesley Chapel shooting followed missed court appearance
The three men had gone to the apartment at about 12.58am to take Josena into custody after he failed to appear in Hillsborough County court on lewd and lascivious charges.
Halleck said the bondsmen identified themselves before entering the room where Josena was believed to be. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, which stopped two rounds, while four others struck his side and back.
Fellow bondsman Xavien Rullan applied a tourniquet as Halleck escaped the apartment. A third man, Nicholas Jeffords, remained inside during the incident.
Pasco County deputies arrived within minutes after receiving reports that a person had been shot and another individual was barricaded inside the apartment. The sheriff’s office said deputies used a tactical shield as they entered to rescue Jeffords.
As officers moved down the hallway, Josena fired several rounds from another room. The bullets struck the shield, sending fragments into two deputies and causing minor injuries. Neither deputy returned fire.
Sheriff Chris Nocco said the shield had prevented a potentially far more serious outcome.
“Thank God Almighty, that shield was there,” he said. “Those rounds, unfortunately, deflected off of it. Two of them were hurt.”
The response was complicated when a man came out of the apartment and was initially believed to be Josena. Deputies handcuffed him before realising he was the suspect’s brother.
Officers later established contact with Jeffords, who confirmed that he was not injured. After Josena failed to respond to attempts to communicate, deputies deployed pepper balls and sent a drone into the room where he was believed to be.
Josena was found dead from what investigators described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office said shotguns, rifles and handguns were found inside the apartment.
Bail bondsman begins recovery
Halleck was left with bullets lodged in his neck and lower back, but said doctors told him the rounds had missed his vital organs.
“It was just the grace of God,” he said.
He took his first steps on Friday and said he hoped to return home to his wife and 10-year-old daughter by the end of the weekend.
Despite the attack, Halleck said he did not hate Josena.
“I forgive him, but this could have gone a completely different way,” he said. “What happened is he decided to make a permanent solution for a temporary problem.”
Sarah Knight, Halleck’s sister-in-law and co-owner of several bail bond businesses, said the agents were regarded as family and that relatives were grateful they had survived.
Pasco Sheriff’s Office said the second bondsman was evacuated from the apartment without injury, while the two deputies were treated at the scene. The agency also said body-camera footage could not be released because the incident took place inside a residence.
