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Suspect dead after multi-county chase
Kylie Jones reports.
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A suspect is dead after a multi-jurisdictional chase and shootout with law enforcement officers early Saturday.
Deputies said the incident began as a domestic violence incident in Hernando County. A woman was trying to escape her husband and drove to her parent’s house in Wesley Chapel, according to officials.
Neighbors in Wesley Chapel said they were startled early Saturday by screams outside their home.
"I was getting my phone off the charger and about to sit down and have a meal and watch television," Rob King said.
King said his stepson, Mike Miranda, heard someone screaming and knew something was wrong.
"These were screams for help," Miranda said.
The two men ran outside their home and found the woman screaming for help next door.
"She was going house to house just to get anyone's help at all," King said.
At first, King said he thought it was a neighbor who was locked out. But as he got closer, he realized this woman was hurt.
"When I first saw her, she said, I can't believe this," King said. "My husband actually shot me. He's trying to kill me."
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Deputies said that woman had called 911 to report the incident with her husband, but they heard gunshots while she was on the phone with dispatchers.
King said the woman was obviously injured.
"And she was covered in so much blood. It was something like out of a horrific Halloween movie," King said.
As they tried to figure out what happened to the woman, King said a shootout unfolded in the street, feet away from where they were standing in his front yard.
"Two cars drove up, and I heard seven gunshots," King said. "Pop, pop, pop."
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Deputies said the suspect, Eric Blaszczyk, 37, was in one of those cars and started shooting.
"I got down, I said, ‘Get down, get down, get down.’ And then she ducked behind," King recalled.
King said they quickly decided to shield the woman and run her into their house, then shelter her in their garage.
"One’s first thought, ‘Is this real?’ Then something just clicked," King said.
As they waited for EMS to come and take the woman to the hospital, deputies said Blaszczyk took off, leading multiple law enforcement agencies on a chase through Pasco County and into Hillsborough County.
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Deputies called the incident a "reign of terror."
They said the chase ended when Blaszczyk crashed his car into a retention pond and got into another shootout with law enforcement officers.
Deputies said Blaszczyk tried to run and hide behind a nearby building but had been shot. They said he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
King said he’s grateful they heard the woman screaming and were able to help as quickly as they were.
"God was looking out for that woman and her son because her son, had the police not shown up when they did, he would have been gunned down on the street," King shared.
Deputies said the woman was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.