Overnight worker on I-4 construction site shot, killed by Lakeland officers

LAKELAND, Fla. - A man was working overnight on a job site in Lakeland when officers apparently mistook him for a suspicious character. Officers shot and killed the 61-year-old, who has yet to be identified, but was carrying a gun, according to his friend, who asked to remain unnamed. 

A friend of the man says his buddy was carrying a gun after another overnight incident a few weeks back left him shaken. The man shot and killed by Lakeland PD officers was working at a job site early Sunday morning, on I-4 near Kathleen Road, when officers mistook his car for something suspicious.

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Lakeland PD says two officers saw the worker's car behind a barricade, where the general public was not allowed, and thought it seemed out of place.

When the officers knocked on the car window, investigators say the man fired at them. They shot back and killed him.

The man's friend said his buddy was there to make sure a pump remained operational overnight. He was carrying a gun after another incident a few weeks back unnerved him.

"In the middle of the night, he was sleeping in his car, and he woke up to two guys wandering around the construction site," the friend told FOX 13. "He said it looked like they were going to steal something, so he got out of the car and when he called to them, they took off running."

The friend says his buddy was shaken up and decided to carry protection.

The man who was killed lives in Miami, but has been working in the Bay Area for the past year, sending money home for his son, his friend said.