AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Friday morning turned violent in Auburndale when a domestic threat culminated in a fatal shooting and an officer-involved confrontation in a local business parking lot.
At approximately 9:12 a.m. on July 10, 2026, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center started receiving frantic 911 calls. Some callers reported a suicide at the Spectrum office located at 1004 U.S. Highway 92 West, while others reported active gunfire in the employee parking lot.
When Auburndale Police officers and Polk County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, they found a 20-year-old woman on the ground suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Nearby lay her boyfriend, 39-year-old Derrick Brathwaite, who was still holding a firearm. According to details shared by Sheriff Grady Judd during an on-scene press briefing, Brathwaite pointed the gun directly at the officers and deputies as they tried to approach…