A routine bail bond assignment turned into a deadly ambush for Richard Halleck, a 43-year-old bail bondsman from Wesley Chapel. Around 12:58 a.m. on Thursday, Halleck and two fellow bondsmen tracked down Henry Josena, who had failed to appear in Hillsborough County court on lewd and lascivious charges. When the team entered the Enclave apartments, Josena ambushed them with an AR-15 rifle, shooting Halleck six times before he managed to escape. His bulletproof vest stopped two rounds while the other four tore through his side and back. Pasco County deputies arrived quickly and found Josena had opened fire on them as well, injuring two officers with minor wounds. The standoff ended when Josena took his own life inside the apartment after being discovered by authorities. Halleck was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa where doctors described his survival as nothing short of a miracle since bullets missed every vital organ.
Key Points:
- 43-year-old Richard Halleck was shot six times with an AR-15 rifle during an ambush at the Enclave apartments in Wesley Chapel
- Halleck’s bulletproof vest stopped two rounds while the other four tore through his side and back
- Suspect Henry Josena, 29, opened fire on responding deputies before taking his own life inside the apartment
- Two Pasco County deputies suffered minor injuries from the gunfire during the shootout
- Halleck is recovering at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa and hopes to return home by the end of the weekend
