A man in Polk County was shot and killed by deputies on Monday after they say he was armed with garden shears and acting erratically after surviving an apparent gator attack.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies began searching for Timothy Schultz, 42, just before 6 a.m. after a convenience store clerk reported he was acting "bizarre."

Deputies spend about 40 minutes looking for the man, WFLA says.

Schultz then began swimming in an alligator-infested lake, nearby residents told officials.

A witness tried to throw Schultz a life preserver and another witness said Schultz growled at them when they tried to help, PCSO said.

Witnesses told deputies an alligator was spotted close to him as he swam across the lake.

Schultz emerged from the lake with an apparent alligator bite and began walking between houses while holding a pair of garden shears.

PCSO said he then used a brick to attempt to break into a resident’s truck.

A witness told detectives they saw the suspect run at deputies with the shears. He was tased twice, but it didn't stop him.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he climbed into the passenger side of a PCSO patrol vehicle, trying to get a deputy’s rifle.

That’s when two deputies, identified as a trainee and his trainer, opened fire on the suspect, killing him.

Judd said Schultz had a lengthy criminal history that included several arrests for methamphetamine.

This is a developing story and will be updated

7mo ago

Florida man armed with garden shears survives gator attack before shot, killed by deputies

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KoalaUnknown @lemmy.world 7mo ago

Assuming what is said in the article is true, this is a rare case where I think the lethal force is justifiable. The dude was probably on meth and their tasers where doing nothing as he attempted to take one of their rifles.

7mo ago

What's wrong with this message?

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KoalaUnknown @lemmy.world 7mo ago

It’s a feature that parents can toggle on to help prevent their kids from sending CSAM, and receiving unwanted dick pics. The choice of censorship is entirely on the parent.

The emojis are a little far tho..

7mo ago

🥵🤝🥵

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KoalaUnknown @lemmy.world 7mo ago

sauce?

7mo ago

Got any grapes?

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KoalaUnknown @lemmy.world 7mo ago

So the card itself has a mag stripe and an RFID chip but no numbers printed on it? You log into your account to copy/paste the numbers for online transactions?