Bail Bondsman Shot Six Times, Two Deputies Hurt in Wesley Chapel Apartment Ambush

A bail bondsman is recovering after being shot six times with a rifle during an attempted arrest at The Enclave apartments in Wesley Chapel early Thursday, an ambush that also left two Pasco Sheriff's deputies with minor injuries before the gunman took his own life.

The Pasco Sheriff's Office says deputies got the call at 12:58 a.m. on September 10: someone had been shot, and another person was barricaded inside an apartment with the shooter, 29-year-old Henry Josena. Josena was wanted on a failure-to-appear warrant out of Hillsborough County, tied to lewd and lascivious charges. He had skipped a court date, and his bond had been revoked.

That is what brought bail bondsmen Richard Halleck, Nicholas Jeffords and Xavien Rullan to his door. Halleck, 43, says the three identified themselves before going into the room where Josena was staying. The room was dark. Josena opened fire with an AR-15.

"When we opened the door, the room was dark and he ambushed me," Halleck said, according to local news reports. "He shot me six times with an AR-15."

His bulletproof vest stopped two rounds. Four more tore through his side and back. Rullan applied a tourniquet as Halleck bled. Jeffords stayed trapped inside the apartment for the rest of the standoff.

Deputies moved in behind a shield

Pasco deputies arrived within minutes and made contact with Halleck outside. Then they went in after Jeffords, using a tactical ballistic shield to push into the apartment. They briefly reached Jeffords by voice and confirmed he was unhurt. Then Josena opened fire again from another room, hitting the shield directly.

Fragments and ricochets off the shield struck two deputies, causing minor injuries. Neither deputy fired a shot. Sheriff Chris Nocco said the shield made the difference.

Nocco described Josena as heavily armed with shotguns, rifles and handguns, and said it "clearly looked like he was ready for something to happen." Deputies held their position, kept talking to Josena, and got no response. They deployed pepper balls. Still nothing. A drone sent into the room found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Jeffords was walked out of the apartment unharmed. Halleck was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he underwent surgery. Both deputies were treated on scene.

"It missed every single vital organ"

Halleck's doctor called his survival close to a miracle. He had bullets lodged in his neck and lower back, and none struck a vital organ. He took his first steps Friday afternoon and hoped to be home with his wife and 10-year-old daughter by the weekend.

Despite the injuries, Halleck said he does not hold anger toward Josena.

"I forgive him, but this could have gone a completely different way," he said, according to local news reports. "What happened is he decided to make a permanent solution for a temporary problem."

Sarah Knight, Halleck's sister-in-law and a co-owner of the bail bond business the men work for, said the family is grateful the agents survived and thanked deputies for responding with "courage and compassion," while also extending condolences to Josena's family.

The Sheriff's Office says body camera footage from inside the apartment will not be released, citing a Florida statute that protects footage recorded inside a residence. The agency has not said whether it will release additional details from its investigation into the shooting.

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