Man killed after pointing gun at deputies during Florida welfare check, sheriff says
By Christian Bussiere
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MIMS, Florida (WESH) — Brevard County sheriff’s deputies shot a 79-year-old man who authorities said pointed a handgun at them while conducting a well-being check.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey said deputies were called to a home near Interstate 95 in Mims around 7:55 p.m. after the man reportedly threatened to harm himself.
The first deputy to arrive spoke with the man and determined that he met the criteria for Florida’s Baker Act. A second deputy arrived, and the two spoke with the man for more than an hour while waiting for an ambulance crew to transport him to a facility, Ivey said.
Deputies saw a long gun inside the home and moved it away from the man. When they attempted to lift him from a medical chair, however, he pulled a handgun from beneath his leg and pointed it at them, according to Ivey.
The deputies gave the man verbal commands before opening fire, Ivey said. The man was struck and taken to a hospital where he later died.
Neither deputy was injured. The man’s wife and members of the ambulance crew were in other rooms when the shooting occurred, Ivey said.
The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting. The agency had not released the man’s name or the names of the deputies involved. Ivey said the deputies did not have body cameras on.
Deputy Kevin Morris was responding to the shooting investigation when he was killed in a separate wrong-way crash on Interstate 95, according to Ivey.
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