UPDATE: Due to overwhelming turnout for blood donations on Saturday, another blood drive will be held Sunday from 2-6 p.m. during the Partnership in the Park event at at Isaac Campbell Park.

ORIGINAL STORY

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said John "Casey" Smith, the deputy shot on Thursday, opened his eyes Saturday and looked around his hospital room.

Smith remains in "very critical and unstable condition."

Smith was shot during a prostitution investigation Thursday night.

Investigators said Smith, an agent with the sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division, remains in intensive care at Orlando Regional Medical Center. He was shot multiple times around 9:30 p.m. Thursday at a Port St. John home on Covina Street.

Smith has been with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office since 2009.

Meanwhile in Titusville, over 200 people showed up Saturday to give back to the deputy by donating blood.

Robert Spencer was one of the first people to get in a chair Saturday morning.

"I'd like to show my support," Spencer said. "I feel bad for anyone who gets hurt in that kind of situation."

Even officers from neighboring agencies and firefighters were on hand to help out.

"Last night we got an email from our Cocoa police chief and our lieutenant asking us if we wanted to, and they've actually authorized us to come out here," said Officer Ralph Perrone with Cocoa Police. "It's certainly something that we want to do for a fellow brother in law enforcement. Our heart goes out to him."

"It is a family," said Brevard County Fire Rescue Chief Mark Schollmeyer. "It is a brotherhood. It does not matter what color uniform you are wearing, we all come together."

One donor was even in Daytona Beach on vacation from Georgia and drove down to Titusville to donate, according to Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

Suspect's relative: It's a misunderstanding

Investigators said deputies came to the home after several neighbors complained about prostitution.

The sheriff's office said they were trying to arrest 42-year-old Mary Ellyn Derossett, when her uncle, 65-year-old John Franklin Derossett, came from inside the house and opened fire on the deputies.

Smith was shot several times, who returned fire, shooting the suspect. Both Smith and John Derossett were taken to a local trauma center, Derossett in stable condition, and the deputy critical.

One of Derossett's relatives, who did not want to be identified, said she doesn't know what was going through Derossett's mind when he opened fire, but she thinks it was a misunderstanding.

“Nobody is telling me anything," she said. "I just came to make sure his house is locked up because all of his personal stuff is here.”

Two other Brevard County sheriff's agents, identified as Peter Stead and Jason Roberts, were also identified as assisting in the incident.


(Brevard Co. Sheriff's Office)

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has begun investigating the case, and all three deputies involved were placed on paid administrative leave, a standard procedure during investigations into officer-involved shootings.

Mary Derossett is charged with solicitation for prostitution locked up in the Brevard County Jail on a $500 bond.

Support on social media from across the country

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office posted the following note Friday on Facebook:

PLEASE KEEP OUR DEPUTY AND HIS FAMILY IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

Late yesterday evening a member of our Brevard County Sheriff's Office family was shot in the line of duty while he and the members of his unit were attempting to make an arrest in the Port St. John area.

While the full details of the incident are still under investigation I wanted to share with our community that he is currently in critical condition undergoing surgery and we ask that everyone please keep him and his family in their thoughts and prayers.

Our BCSO family is standing strong with his wife and children as we all face this difficult time together. We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming number of calls we have received from our citizens who have offered their thoughts and prayers for his recovery. I want to personally thank and commend the actions of Brevard County Fire Rescue who without question gave our Deputy a chance to survive through their life saving actions.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Support for Deputy Smith is coming in, not only from around Florida but all over the country.

As of late Friday afternoon, the update Ivey posted on the department's Facebook page had more than 3,400 shares and 1,000 comments.

Comments included, “May God watch over him and his family and give them strength during this difficult time.”

Others question why a shooting like Thursday night’s would happen.

“There are way too many attacks occurring against our law enforcement members” one poster writes.  “It needs to stop.”

Other police and sheriff’s offices are also showing support for Smith.

Melbourne Police Department posted, “Please keep the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in your thoughts and prayers.”

Palm Bay police posted, “Praying for a full recovery.”

 Comments are also coming in from as far away as California and Maine.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Brevard County Sheriff's Office at 321-633-8409 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).


Crews at the scene early Friday to investigate Thursday's deputy-involved shooting in Brevard County.