NEWS

Jimmy Dac Ho, an FAU police officer, was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder after he hired an escort for sex and shot her twice. As of this afternoon, he resigned from FAU’s police department while under investigation.

According to Dac Ho’s interview with Boynton Beach police, he went to Sheri Deann Carter’s condo in Boynton Beach for sex, but when he told her he didn’t have any money, she pulled a gun on him and said he was not leaving until she got paid. He believed that she was going to the kitchen for a knife, so Dac Ho pulled out his Interarms .38-caliber as a threat. He attempted to handcuff her when she struggled, and shots were fired.

After, Dac Ho threw the gun into a nearby canal.

Police arrived at Carter’s home at 7:15 p.m. on Monday after her friends said they hadn’t heard from her in a long time. Carter was found in her bedroom unconscious with gunshot wounds to her neck and abdomen. She was immediately taken to Delray Medical Center.

Carter underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition with lower-body paralysis.

FAU was notified this morning about the incident involving of one their officers.

“The Boynton Beach Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred in their jurisdiction. FAU is currently working with the Boynton Beach Police Department to get details concerning the incident. The officer involved has been identified as Jimmy Ho. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation,” said FAU in a statement.

Dac Ho met Carter on an escort website called Backpage, where she listed herself as “Stephanie.” Carter’s boyfriend told police that he received a text from her around 4:21 p.m. saying she was with a client and he was acting “weird and scary.”

According to reports, Boynton Beach police used Carter’s phone records to identify Dac Ho as a suspect. They were able to find his number that was in direct contact with Carter prior to her texting her boyfriend. When police arrived at Dac Ho’s home and informed him of the investigation, he blurted to police that it was self-defense and that she struggled with him over the gun.

“The defendant told me that he did not have sex with her, and that she started acting weird and he wanted to leave but she would not let him leave,” the police report states.

Police said Dac Ho was involved in a prior police incident with the same escort service. Details about that investigation were not available.

“I am sure that everyone in the FAU community joins me in expressing deep sympathy to the victim of this shooting and her family,” said President Mary Jane Saunders in an announcement sent this afternoon to staff, faculty and students.