Man who rammed St. Johns deputy patrol car died by suicide, Medical Examiner finds

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A man who rammed a St. Johns County deputy’s patrol car earlier this month died by suicide, according to autopsy information released by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

SJSO said John David Herron’s cause of death was a gunshot wound and the manner of death was suicide, according to an autopsy conducted by District 23 Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed.

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The incident happened Friday, June 7 on Old Moultrie Road at U.S. 1 South.

Around 5:10 p.m. on Friday, a concerned family member contacted the SJSO about the man. Officials said the family member told them the man “had been drinking alcohol, was making suicidal remarks and left his residence with a firearm.”

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Deputies located his vehicle and tried to do a welfare check.

According to deputies, he was armed and uncooperative. The man then began to ram one of the patrol vehicles.

”He was not cooperating, and yea, he made a choice,” a witness told Action News Jax that night.

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That’s when four deputies fired their guns.

Life-saving efforts were made, but Herron was pronounced dead at the scene.

Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez spoke with Herron’s neighbor on the night of the incident, who said he was surprised and sad to hear about this. He said he saw his neighbor’s truck on TV with his business logo and knew it was him.

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