A Clay County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a person described as confrontational and armed with two knives in the Oakleaf Plantation neighborhood of Orange Park.
Sheriff Michelle Cook said in a news media briefing that the shooting happened about 4 p.m. on May 9, at a home off Pebble Stone Court. Deputies had been dispatched to assist Florida Department of Children and Families (DCFS) personnel conducting an investigation.
The shooting happened after deputies began checking people at the scene for possible warrants, Cook said.
“It appeared that one of the individuals that was involved had an out-of-state warrant,” Cook said. “While deputies were trying to confirm that out-of-state warrant, the subject of that potential warrant actually armed themselves with two knives, [and] became confrontational.”
Cook said the confrontation with the deputies ended up in the home’s backyard. The person then knocked down a fence into a neighbor’s yard where the confrontation continued, she said.
“A short time later, we had a single deputy shoot the subject who was at that time armed, and the subject was deceased at that time,” Cook said.
Cook didn’t identify either the person killed or the deputy in the shooting.
The deputy was being interviewed following the shooting as the Sheriff’s Office determined whether to place the officer on administrative leave, she said.
No deputies were injured in the case, she said.
Cook said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney’s Office are conducting an independent investigation of the shooting. That is normal Sheriff’s Office procedure in an officer-involved shooting.
Those agencies would release additional information when possible, she said.
Cook said the Sheriff’s Office was still sorting through information regarding the DCFS investigation at the home.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Clay County sheriff’s deputy shoots, kills person brandishing knives
Reporting by Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
