A man suspected of using narcotics was shot and killed by Florida sheriff’s deputies on Monday after attempting to shock him with a Taser while wielding a set of garden shears immediately after being bitten by an alligator in a lake, according to the sheriff.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters that the two deputies were attempting to de-escalate the situation before the man, 42-year-old Timothy Schulz, hopped into their running police vehicle and attempted to take the guns inside. That’s when the deputies opened fire, Judd claimed.
“This is just crazy stuff, OK?” Judd stated. “You know that it’s got to be true, you can’t make it up.”
Schulz had a long history of drug charges, according to Judd. He was freed from jail last Tuesday after being charged with meth possession, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident began Monday at 5:56 a.m., when a convenience store employee noticed a guy acting strangely, shaking and demanding to phone his son, according to Judd. Deputies went to the store but could not locate the man.
According to Judd, at 7:43 a.m., individuals reported seeing Schulz swimming in a lake with multiple alligators. According to the sheriff, one witness attempted to give him a life preserver, while another attempted to converse with him and received a snarl in response.
According to Judd, Schulz was bitten on his right arm by an alligator while swimming in the lake.
“The fact that he was bitten by an alligator, significantly, and still continued his rampage is shocking,” according to Judd. “But if you’re on enough meth, then the person you see is not the person that’s attacking.”
When Schulz emerged from the water in a gated community in Lakeland, east of Tampa, he grabbed a set of garden shears that had been left outside, Judd said. Schulz then attempted to break into a vehicle using a brick.
When deputies came, Schulz charged at them with the shears, Judd said. According to the sheriff, the deputies attempted to de-escalate the situation by telling Schulz to put down the shears and shocking him twice with a Taser.
“They were still trying to take him peacefully into custody,” Judd told the reporter.
Schulz entered the deputies’ still-running patrol vehicle from the passenger side and attempted to remove the rifle or shotgun from their holders, according to Judd. The deputies then shot Schulz several times.
The sheriff’s office shared photographs on social media of the patrol vehicle with what appeared to be many bullet holes in the windshield.
The event is being investigated, Judd added. During the investigation’s early stages, the deputies were placed on standard administrative leave.
