Officer identified in Suncoast High School shooting on campus
The arrest report for Delroy Thomas says he attacked Officer Nodane Cherisma
The arrest report for Delroy Thomas says he attacked Officer Nodane Cherisma
The arrest report for Delroy Thomas says he attacked Officer Nodane Cherisma
A newly released arrest affidavit for the suspect in a school trespassing case that ended with the suspect being shot was released Tuesday.
The arrest affidavit for Delroy Clive Thomas says Riviera Beach police Officer Nodane Cherisma — who was working overtime patrolling Suncoast High School — on Monday radioed another officer immediately to say she was with a suspicious person.
That person was Thomas, dressed in blue scrubs and walking into the campus from the South gate.
While the other officer was coming to assist Cherisma, that officer said:
“She heard Officer Cherisma giving commands to Thomas; however, she could not distinguish what was being said.”
Then she says she “observed Thomas turn completely around and attack Officer Cherisma.”
The affidavit says one parent observed “Officer Cherisma and Thomas 'tussling,'" saying Thomas was the aggressor and she felt “the officer was struggling.”
Another parent said he felt the officer “was going to be harmed."
A student witness said, “Thomas was…aggressively trying to hurt Officer Cherisma with his hands and legs” and that she was struggling to defend herself as Thomas was a taller man.
The affidavit says, “as a result of Thomas’ unprovoked attack, Officer Cherisma was forced to use deadly force to stop the immediate threat to herself…and to the students and staff on campus.”
Cherisma shot Thomas twice — once in the chest and once in the leg.
Both were taken to the hospital, but Cherisma was released a few hours later.
Thomas was charged in the hospital with battery on a law enforcement officer, trespass on a school facility, and resisting an officer — both with violence and without.
Cherisma remains on administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates.
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