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•🚔 Deputy Will May was fatally wounded in a shootout while responding to a disturbance call at a Dollar General in Mossy Head.
•⚫️ The suspect opened fire within seconds of leaving the store, leading to an exchange of at least 18 shots before May was critically injured.
•🚑 Despite immediate medical aid and extensive efforts at North Okaloosa Medical Center, May succumbed to his injuries after fighting for several hours.
Deputy Will May of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office has died due to his injuries after a shootout with a suspect at the Dollar General on Highway 90 in Mossy Head.
May was called to Dollar General to check out a disturbance call and a request to trespass an individual.
According to Walton Sheriff Michael Adkinson, Deputy May leaves behind a wife and two teenage children. He’s the first law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty in Walton County since 1942.
He says Deputy May contacted the team at the Dollar General and then went to talk to the suspect. They had a 10-15-second discussion, after which the suspect exited the store. Deputy May followed him.
Adkinson says that within 10 seconds of walking out of the store, the suspect drew a firearm and shot May.
“Deputy May, to his great personal credit and courage, could draw his firearm and return fire. This short, but violent gunfight resulted in at least 18 rounds being fired,” Adkinson recounted. “The suspect died on scene; Deputy May called for assistance and announced that he had been shot and that shots were fired.”
Adkinson said May’s first backup reached the Dollar General approximately two minutes after the gunfight and began to render aid. A couple of miutnes later, more law enforcemnent – including a deputy cross-trained as an EMT arrived on the scene and attempted to save May’s life. Walton County Fire Rescue made it to the scene with a paramedic on board and began to help as well.
“There is absolutely nothing he [May] could have done differently, nor was there any indication that this individual was capable of this level of violence,” Adkinson added.
Adkinson also shared that May had on a ballistic vest that stopped multiple rounds in the fight and that one of the rounds went underneath the vest. The round that made it past the vest is the one that killed May.
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Due to the severity of his wounds, first responders made an attempt to meditate May via helicopter – but found it impossible to do. The team on the ground then decided to rush him to North Okaloosa Medical Center.
Once at NOMC, medical professionals worked for about four hours to save his life. He died around six in the evening.
“Will fought the entire time. From returning fire on the scene to fighting for his own life,” Adkinson said in a hushed tone as he fought back his emotions.
Will May started with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office as a communications officer in 2014. In 2019 he was made a deputy sheriff and began to promote. He became a field training officer in 2023. “Let me tell you what that doesn’t tell you,” Adkinson added, “his father is a retired assistant fire chief. His mother is a former dispatcher. He chose a lifetime of service.”
