April 1, 2021- 6:30 p.m
HUDSON, FL — A 79-year-old man has died after being shot by Pasco County sheriff’s deputies. James Zambrotto died Monday evening. He had been in the hospital since Saturday’s shooting. According to Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco, a deputy pulled into the RaceTrac gas station at the intersection of U.S. 19 and Little Road to get some gas and coffee around 6 a.m. and encountered Zambrotto who was talking about wanting to kill people.
“He starts talking to the deputy, rambling stuff about how he wants to kill somebody. He wants to drive his vehicle into the gas pumps to kill people,” Nocco said. Nocco said the deputy talked with Zambrotto for about 15 minutes, attempting to calm him down.
“From my understanding, the deputy offered him a cup of coffee and said, ‘Let’s talk about this. Let’s try to figure out what’s going on in your life and help you out,'” Nocco said. Realizing the man wasn’t calming down, the deputy called for backup and a hostage negotiator and deputies trained in crisis intervention were sent to the scene. They spoke to Zambrotto for about 40 minutes but, instead of calming down, Nocco said Zambrotto drove his vehicle into one of the patrol cars blocking the gas station exit.
A few moments later, Nocco said Zambrotto started shooting at deputies through his windshield. The deputies returned fire, striking him. Zambrotto was rushed to the hospital following the shooting. No deputies were injured. Nocco said deputies tried everything possible to prevent Zambrotto from becoming violent.
