Deputy and suspect die in gun battle that ‘does not make sense,’ FL sheriff says

A deputy picking up an extra shift on his day off was killed when he responded to a routine call about someone being disruptive at a discount store, according to investigators in the Florida Panhandle.

Despite being hit multiple times, Deputy Will May returned fire, killing the shooter, Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson Jr. said at a news conference.

The gunfight happened around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, outside the Dollar General store in Mossy Oak, and everything about the incident defies logic, Adkinson said.

“This is an agency in shock and in disbelief that this happened, and certainly that it happened this way: At 2 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon for something where an arrest was not going to be made,” Adkinson said.

“The subject being dealt with was not even going to be arrested. They were simply asking him to leave. Twenty-five to 30 seconds after his arrival, (May) was mortally wounded. It does not make sense.”

Adkinson declined to identify the suspect during the news conference, but reported he had a carry/conceal gun license, and did not have an arrest record in Walton County. He arrived at the store on a bike.

He has been identified as 58-year-old Timothy Mark Jarvinen of DeFuniak Springs by several media outlets, including WEAR.

Details of the initial disturbance in the store, which is about a 65-mile drive northeast from Pensacola, have not been released.

May was making his last call of the day when Dollar General staff reported a disturbance and asked if he could escort a man from the store, officials said.

“There was a brief discussion, 10 to 15 seconds, in which the suspect exited the store with Deputy May walking behind him,” Adkinson said.

“Within 10 seconds of the suspect walking out of the store ... that suspect drew a firearm and fired multiple rounds, striking Deputy May. Deputy May, to his great personal credit and courage, was able to draw his firearm and return fire. This short but violent gunfight resulted in at least 18 rounds being fired with both individuals being killed.”

May called for help and to report both he and the suspect had been shot, officials said.

The suspect died at the scene and May was taken to a hospital for treatment. He died just after 7 p.m., after four hours in surgery, the sheriff said.

May was wearing a protective vest, but one of the shots went “underneath” the vest, causing critical injuries, Adkinson said.

Another bullet struck his body-worn camera.

May has been with the department since 2014, and had served on patrol the past six years as well as being a field training officer, officials said. His father is a retired fire chief and his mother was a dispatcher, Adkinson said.

“I’m struggling on behalf of this organization to make sense of this, but I can tell you there is absolutely nothing tactically wrong with what Deputy May did. I’ve been in this business 32 years. There is nothing I would have done differently,” Adkinson said.

“There was no indication whatsoever that this would have ended in that kind of violence. ... This is an interaction deputy sheriffs have every day in this county. Every day.”

Multiple people witnessed the shooting, he said, and “they were stunned as well at the speed at which this turned into a gun battle.”

May was a husband and father of two, Adkinson said.

“Deputy May was not supposed to be working that day,” he said. “He came in to volunteer to provide overtime assistance.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Deputy and suspect die in gun battle that ‘does not make sense,’ FL sheriff says."