POLK COUNTY, FL – On Monday, May 26th, a man believed to have been on drugs was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies who tried to shock him with a Taser first. And it all happened as he wielded a set of garden shears at the deputies shortly after he was apparently bitten by an alligator while swimming in the water.
According to CBS News, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that two of his deputies were trying to de-escalate the situation before the man, since identified as 42-year-old Timothy Schulz, climbed into their running patrol vehicle and tried to get the weapons inside. Judd said it was in those moments that the deputies opened fire on the man.
He said at a news conference, “This is just crazy stuff, OK? You know that it’s go to be true, you can’t make it up.” Judd said that Schulz had a long history of drug-related arrests and was released from jail last Tuesday, May 20th after being arrested for possession of meth. The incident on Monday started at approximately 5:56 a.m. when a convenience store worker reported a man acting bizarrely, shaking and asking to call his son.
Deputies went to the store, but could not find the man. About two hours later, around 7:43 a.m., people reported a man later identified as Schulz swimming in a lake that contained multiple alligators. Judd said that one witness tried to give Schulz a life preserver and another tried to speak with him but received a growl in response.
While Schulz was in the lake, he was apparently bitten by an alligator on his right arm. Judd said, “The fact that he was bitten by an alligator, significantly, and still continued his rampage is shocking. But if you’re on enough meth, then the person you see is not the person that’s attacking.”
Judd said that when Schulz emerged from the water in a gated community in Lakeland, he picked up a set of garden shears that had been left outside. Schulz then tried to break into a vehicle with a brick. After deputies arrived on scene, Schulz charged at them with the shears. The deputies tried to de-escalate the situation by giving Schulz verbal commands to put the shears down. They also tried to shock him with a Taser twice.
Judd said, “They were still trying to take him peacefully into custody.” Judd said that Schulz then entered the deputies’ still-running patrol vehicle from the passenger side and tried to get either the rifle or the shotgun inside from their holders.
That is when the deputies shot Schulz multiple times. The incident is under investigation and the officers involved have been placed on routine administrative leave during the initial phase of the investigation.
