According to Orange County Undersheriff Mark Canty, a man with a knife was shot and killed by deputies Monday afternoon after his girlfriend told police that he had kept her against her will overnight.
At a news conference later Monday, Canty said that deputies were called to the Isles at East Millenia apartments on Lake Fountain Drive at 12:45 p.m. by a woman who claimed that her 57-year-old boyfriend had been using drugs and holding her inside the apartment at knifepoint since the night before.
The woman claimed the man had threatened her with a knife in an interview with deputies on the scene. He locked himself in the apartment when the deputies tried to arrest him for severe assault. Around 2:45 p.m., deputies asked a SWAT squad for help and a negotiator, Canty said.
The SWAT team set up shop around the apartment while they continued to negotiate with the man. Two deputies shot the man after he eventually left the room he was in and approached them brandishing a knife, according to Canty. After being taken to the hospital, he passed away. According to Canty, the entire incident lasted between three and four hours.
According to protocol, the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office will analyze the findings of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigation into the shooting. According to Canty, the Sheriff’s Office will subsequently carry out an internal inquiry of its own.
While FDLE conducts an initial review, the deputies who fired their weapons are currently on temporary paid administrative leave. Within 30 days, the sheriff’s office will make the shooting’s body-cam footage public.
