Sex offender falls to death after shooting at Florida airport

[News_Editor]

TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- A registered sex offender fell to his death Monday after being shot by a police officer in a parking garage at a Florida airport, officials said on Tuesday. It was not immediately known what prompted the officer to open fire at the man, who was carrying a gun in violation of his probation.

The incident began at around 4:30 p.m. local time on Monday at Tampa International Airport when a police officer approached a man who said he was watching planes from the 8th floor of the airport's short-term parking garage. A background check revealed that the man, identified as 46-year-old Allen Piano, was a registered sex offender.

"His probation officer indicated Pinellas County officials were preparing to issue a warrant for his arrest," said Janet Zink, a spokeswoman for the airport. Florida Department of Corrections officials said Piano had violated his probation by moving outside the area he was allowed to move in, and investigators suspected him of having a shotgun that had been reported missing by the man's parents.

Zink said the officer found Piano about 30 minutes later on the 4th floor of the long-term parking garage, sitting in his car with a gun in his mouth. "The man exited his car. Shots were fired and the man jumped over the side of the parking garage," the spokeswoman said, adding that the man was killed.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office said Tuesday that the man died from blunt impact from the fall, although he also suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound in the upper body. Investigators were still working to determine whether Piano jumped with the intent to kill himself or whether he fell by accident.

It was also not immediately clear what prompted the officer to open fire at Piano, as Zink said the sex offender had not fired his weapon. "The officer involved is on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation," she said, without giving other details as to the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

State records showed that Piano had been sentenced to 10-year probation on a 2010 charge of providing obscene material to a minor.

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