Investigators say a false 911 report drew deputies to a home where one officer was shot twice and survived after a bullet struck his body camera.
DELTONA, FL — A 31-year-old man is accused of calling 911 with a false report to draw deputies to his Deltona home, then opening fire at close range and wounding a Volusia County sheriff’s deputy in an attack investigators say was planned to ambush police.
Authorities say the case now centers on more than the shooting itself. Deputy Jose Rivera survived after one bullet hit his chest-mounted body camera and appeared to deflect before tearing through his shoulder, while another struck his leg. The suspect, Luis Diaz Polanco, was arrested at the scene and jailed without bond on two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. The allegation that he used a bogus 911 call to bring deputies to the house sharpens the stakes in a case already being watched across Central Florida because it suggests the officers were not merely answering a complaint, but walking into a trap.
The shooting happened March 2 outside a home on Candler Drive in Deltona. Sheriff’s officials said Rivera and a trainee deputy were investigating an assault and criminal mischief complaint tied to an earlier dispute involving Diaz Polanco and his mother. Later reporting on the case said investigators believe Diaz Polanco also placed a false 911 call claiming a large group of people was in his yard, drawing law enforcement to the property. When the deputies arrived, authorities said, Diaz Polanco came to the door holding a box and appeared surprised to see them. After Rivera and the trainee told him to put the box down and step outside, he shut the door, moved through the house and returned armed with a handgun. Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the shooting unfolded from about six feet away. Rivera was hit in the shoulder and thigh, returned fire and retreated as other deputies rushed in, pulled him to safety and drove him first to a Deltona hospital before he was airlifted to Daytona Beach for trauma care.
Officials have described the attack as deliberate. Chitwood said one round struck Rivera’s body camera “dead center,” and investigators believe that impact changed the bullet’s path and may have saved the deputy’s life. Rivera was later released from the hospital and is expected to recover. Authorities said Diaz Polanco was not wounded and was taken into custody outside the home after the gunfire stopped. According to the arrest report, he later told investigators he intentionally fired at the deputies and said that if he had not run out of ammunition, he would have kept shooting and would have been “forced to kill” the deputy. Prosecutors said in court that the body-camera footage and the statements attributed to Diaz Polanco showed a danger severe enough to justify holding him without bond. A judge agreed at his first appearance and kept him in the Volusia County jail.
Records and public statements add broader context to the case but leave major questions unanswered. Local reporting has said Diaz Polanco lived with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and had previous Baker Act detentions in 2023 when police in Lake Mary intervened during mental health episodes. There was also a 2024 battery case involving elderly passengers while he was working as a Lyft driver, though that case was later not prosecuted. Chitwood has said Diaz Polanco also had earlier police contacts involving violent or erratic behavior, including a July 4 incident in which a gun was reportedly pointed at someone. None of those prior events, by themselves, explain what happened on March 2, and investigators have not publicly laid out a full motive beyond statements that Diaz Polanco told detectives he was having a terrible day and intended to shoot. It also remains unclear exactly when the alleged false 911 call was placed, what dispatchers were told in full, and whether all recordings tied to the response will be released.
The legal fight is already moving beyond the original arrest. Diaz Polanco faces two life-felony counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer with a firearm. Prosecutors told a judge they expected to formally file information in the case within weeks of the shooting, while defense lawyers have sought to keep the audio and video of his police interviews from public release. In a hearing last week, attorneys argued over whether those recordings amount to a confession that should remain sealed while the investigation stays active. Judge Karen Foxman did not immediately grant the defense request, and additional rulings are expected as the case advances toward arraignment later in March. Investigators also have not publicly answered whether any other charges could be added, including charges related to a false emergency report, once the 911 allegations are fully documented in court.
The scene itself has become part of the case’s lasting image. Deputies swarmed the block after the shots, traffic was rerouted near Howland and Providence, and body-camera footage later shown by the sheriff captured the sudden burst of gunfire and the scramble to save Rivera. Chitwood said he had never seen a body camera take a hit like that. In court, an assistant state attorney argued that someone willing to shoot at clearly identified deputies so brazenly posed an ongoing threat to the community. Defense lawyer Joshua Mott, by contrast, argued for less restrictive options than jail, including mental health treatment, medication compliance, GPS monitoring and a firearms ban. The judge rejected that request for now. Rivera, meanwhile, has returned home, and the sheriff’s office has framed his survival as a matter of training, fast medical response and what Chitwood called simple luck.
As of Monday, Diaz Polanco remained jailed without bond, Rivera was recovering at home and the next milestone in the case was an expected late-March arraignment along with further court decisions on whether the suspect’s interview recordings will be released.
Author note: Last updated March 16, 2026.