BODY CAM UPDATE, September 1:
Newly released body camera footage
The first footage from the Aug. 25 officer-involved shooting in DeLand, from a Volusia Sheriff’s Office deputy who arrived after the shots were fired, shows two unmarked SUVs in front of and behind a white Dodge Charger.
The Dodge Charger was suspected to be involved in an Aug. 17 attempted shooting, leading to a traffic stop by the DeLand Police Department sergeant, with backup provided by a Volusia Sheriff’s Office detective. Jayvion Barthel, 20, of DeLand, was shot dead in the back seat of the vehicle by one or both of the officers. The exact details of the incident are under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who investigates all officer-related shootings.
The police believe Barthel pointed a gun at one of the officers, and a gun was found in the back seat of the suspect vehicle.
The video shows three plainclothes officers surround the vehicle.
“He drew his weapon on him,” one of the officers said in the video.
The video shows the unmarked vehicle located behind the Dodge Charger with flashing “hideaway strobe lights” located in the SUV’s tail and headlights. The SUV located in front of the Dodge Charger does not appear to have lights.
VIDEO FROM VOLUSIA SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Original story: Jayvion Barthel, 20, was shot dead by law-enforcement officers around 1:30 p.m. Aug. 25 near the intersection of Woodland Boulevard and Euclid Avenue during a traffic stop.
Police believe Barthel pointed a gun when two officers conducted the stop.
At a joint press conference at the DeLand Police Station Friday evening, DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger and Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood explained the series of events that led to the shooting.
Two officers — one from each department — happened to be in the general neighborhood of the Friendly Way store near Beresford and Woodland avenues on unrelated tasks, when the DeLand officer saw a vehicle that matched the make and model of a car suspected in connection to an Aug. 17 attempted shooting incident in DeLand.
A DeLand police sergeant initiated a traffic stop of the white Dodge Charger at the intersection of Woodland Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, with the nearby Volusia Sheriff’s detective responding to assist.
According to eyewitnesses and video shot immediately after the shooting by bystanders, as well as still images shown at the press conference, the two officers were both in unmarked vehicles. One of the unmarked vehicles was positioned in front of the Dodge Charger; the other one in the rear.
The investigation still needs to be fleshed out, Chitwood said, “but basically the bad guy points a gun at the DeLand sergeant, which causes [the sergeant] to fire, which causes my deputy to return fire into the car as well.”
The two police agencies could not confirm that Barthel was directly involved with the Aug. 17 attempted shooting.
“We have pretty good reason to believe that the night this occurred [the deceased] was part of that,” Chitwood said. “Whether he was the triggerman or not, we can’t tell you. But this was a hit crew that he was part of.”
Despite attempts to render first aid, Barthel, who was in the backseat of the vehicle, died at the scene of the Aug. 25 traffic stop. The driver of the vehicle and a female passenger were unharmed, as were the two officers.
A gun was found on the floorboards of the backseat of the vehicle.
FOUND IN THE CAR — The gun found on the rear floorboard of the white Dodge Charger. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation will reveal whether it was fired before Jayvion Barthel — who was sitting in the back seat — was shot by police, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
As with all officer-involved shootings, the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken over the investigation.
The FDLE investigation will reveal if the gun found inside the Dodge was ever fired, Chitwood said, and other details about the position of the officers and shots they fired.
“What we believe, and what some of the footage that we can’t show you yet says that he pointed the firearm at the DeLand officer from the backseat of the car,” Chitwood said.
Body-camera footage from the scene is not likely to be available because the officers involved are investigators who don’t wear body cameras, sources familiar with both the Sheriff’s Office and the DeLand Police Department said.
Barthel was known to officers, Umberger and Chitwood said. Most recently, he was suspected of carrying a gun at a DeLand High School football game in September 2022. He was later arrested and charged with possession of a firearm in connection with that incident.
As the press conference got underway, a crowd of Barthel’s friends and family gathered outside of the DeLand Police Station.
Felicia Smith, a cousin of Barthel’s mother, said Barthel was a rapper who went by the name Blowjack.
“He was good people,” Smith said. “They didn’t need to shoot him.”
Also in the crowd was the driver of the vehicle, who contested some of the information given by police.
“The car in front of me started backing up, next thing you know I turned to the left. Before I could even finish putting my hands up he started shooting. The shots stopped, then they start going again, and there was like a pause for two seconds. Then they shot again, and that’s when I hear my homeboy scream,” Cameron, the driver, said. “He wasn’t pointing no gun at them.”
The driver, who didn’t give his last name to The Beacon, said they didn’t know who was in the vehicles stopping them.
“We didn’t do anything wrong — we didn’t run no stop signs, we didn’t run no lights, we ain’t did nothing. They didn’t even pull us over. I didn’t know who was running up to my window. I thought it was a regular dude,” he said.
Details will remain scant until the FDLE investigation is completed, Chitwood said.
The Aug. 17 incident that prompted the traffic stop of the white Dodge Charger, and that led to the deadly incident on the Boulevard on Aug. 25, involved a malfunctioning gun, police said.
Footage of the Aug. 17 attempted shooting was shown at the press conference. A suspect is seen attempting to fire into a house from the street, and screams are heard. Police say they are still trying to identify two suspects in that case, but had identified the make and model of a car involved, a white Dodge Charger.
“Unfortunately our deceased in this case, he began his criminal career at the age of 12,” Chitwood said.
The sheriff tied the August incidents to gun violence in the area.
“As hard as these folks work in DeLand, as hard as we work here — if the community is hell bent on getting revenge, there’s not a lot that we can do. If they’re hell bent on killing people with mothers and sisters to get revenge for what occurred — we’re dealing with a different realm here. That’s what people have to understand. And the only thing standing between anarchy is us,” Chitwood said.
Barthel’s mother’s cousin described the problem differently.
“They’re scared of black people — that’s all it is,” Smith said. “Y’all need to train more officers to deal with our community, because we already guilty, we lose anyway.”
There is a $10,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman in the Aug. 17 attempted shooting.
Wow! Arrested and charged with with possession of a firearm at a high school football game and is still riding around the streets of DeLand.
Thanks to him you now have 8 metal detectors you have to use if you want the privilege to attend a High School Football game here in DeLand.
DeLand is becoming less and less Delightful. ;(
One down, ten thousand to go.