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Courtesy photo. Retired law enforcement officer Kenneth Smith, working as a private security guard at the Medicine Shoppe on North Dixie Freeway, was justified in the fatal shooting of armed robber Keith Allen Higginbotham, shown here..
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A preliminary investigation into Saturday's fatal shoting of an armed robber at the Medicine Shoppe on North Dixie Freeway indicates lethal force was justified, the New Smyrna Beach police Department announced this afternoon.
"On Monday, February 9, the Homicide Investigative Unit (HIU), and detectives from the New Smyrna Beach Police Department, met with HIU attorneys from the State Attorney’s Office, police spokesman Sgt. Michael Brouillette said in a press statement. "Their preliminary findings indicated that Security Guard Kenneth Smith’s actions were justified. The investigation is ongoing. A final determination in this case will be made after the investigation is completed."
New Smyrna Beach Police responded to the Medicine Shoppe, 653 N. Dixie Freeway after receiving a 911 call in reference to an armed robbery with shots fired.
Upon arrival, officers "secured the crime scene and their initial investigation revealed that Keith Allen Higginbotham burst through the pharmacy door wearing a mask, pulled out a gun pointing it at Jack Bosker, the pharmacist and immediately threw a backpack at him, while continuously demanding Roxicodone (brand named for the painkiller Oxycodone)," according to the police report.
That is when Smith, the armed security guard employed by the pharmacy, confronted the gunman, who pointed his gun at Smith, a retired police captain with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department and a former Volusia County deputy. Smith then shot the armed Higginbotham, who was pronounced dead at the scene.