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Deadly Escambia County Deputy Involved Shooting Under Investigation
October 20, 2020
A deadly duty involved shooting on Perdido Key by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is under investigation.
The ECSO responded to an adult male threatening suicide on the beach in the 1300 block of Sandy Key Drive about 12:30 p.m. Deputies arrived to find the man with a firearm.
“Deputies attempted to talk to the male, at which time he opened fire on the deputies who returned fire striking the male,” the ECSO said.
There were no injuries to deputies. The man died.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement responded as is standard procedure in officer involved shootings.
Comments
20 Responses to “Deadly Escambia County Deputy Involved Shooting Under Investigation”
@eso Deputy, your comment “If he wanted help he would have driven to the nearest intake facility that treat mental health” is asinine at best. As a Deputy, you should know better, you have had training on dealing with mental health issues and you know that these people are not thinking clearly. I assume this is why you are not using your real name to make such an ignorant statement.
@Henry coe, well said sir, you are often the voice of reason on this site.
Spot on Robert!!!
Consequences for your actions!! No 8th place trophies here, nothing to see. please move on!!
Gregor needs to volunteer and be on the front lines next time someone wants to commit suicide by cop. It’s cruel to shine light in their eyes – really? Of course it’s in your best interest to blind someone who is aiming to shoot your behind. It’s not victim blaming – these Individuals are cowards who are not brave enough to go through with ending their own lives. Blame it on someone else …
For those who want to advocate for mental health professionals in the field, please keep your hopes realistic. It takes time to develop a dialog with a patient. If the person is not receptive to help, you are banging your head against a wall. At the end of the day you are still hands on, trying to physically restrain someone who may be intent on causing your and themselves harm. Psychiatrist deal with medications which means lab results and time are needed. Psychologist deal with counseling and that takes time. Most people seem to be hoping for a crisis negotiator with superpowers. Unrealistic expectations lead to disappointment, every time.
Right on, @Henry Coe. The story is light on the details of what happened. We don’t know how the officers approached the person in distress. There is a lot of victim-blaming going on in these comments.
One common approach we see on video is LEOs exacerbating the situation by shining blinding lights in the person’s eyes, barking orders through a megaphone, and pre-emptively drawing weapons in an attempt to physically “control and dominate” someone in a mental health crisis.
Let me start by saying I’ll support LEO’s. I’d like to offer my condolences to the family of the deceased. I also pray for emotional strength for the involved officers.
Now – as their title implies – they are law enforcement officers. NOT mental health advocates, psychologists or psychiatrists. They are there to prevent an individual from injuring the innocent, themselves and hopefully the suspect. When the shooting begins, the time for intervention is passed. I hope and pray everyone becomes aware of laws that allow individual to be committed for observation, without their consent. I don’t know the criteria for such actions, only that they exist. If you have a family member acting irrationally or with a history of mental health issues, please research these options.
May God Bless the victim’s soul.
@Robert
No, we as a society should shoot them if they shoot at police. Quit trying to twist the story. You shoot at police, you get shot. End of story. There is no reasonable counter argument to that.
Mentally ill, depressed, etc., if you have a gun threatening to shoot yourself, do it. But shooting at the cop’s, what do you expect. Insurance should not pay because the man had intent to shoot himself, suicide.
I sure hope none of you ever have a family member with mental health issues. You seem to believe they have the ability to think and act rationally. So if your family member acts insane, we as a society should just shoot them and spare everyone some time.
Suicide by cop .
I agree with the idea of Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. but contrary to some comments, every shooting, especially with injury or death needs investigated.
From an investigation we can know what happened and how it happened. Maybe LE used the best approach when confronting this person who was having a mental breakdown, maybe they didn’t and they can learn something from this experience.
There are far to many suicides and people who need real long term help and have trouble accessing it. Many of the suicides, to include those of veterans, are people dealing with PTSD or living with chronic pain and life altering health issues. How this person got to the point of doing this matters. These are our neighbors and this is America. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Unfortunately a deputy has to live with the man’s decision to commit suicide by cop. Justifiable shooting? Yes however it doesn’t make it easier on the deputy.
Man threatening suicide… opens fire on LEO’s… sounds like he wanted to end things but couldnt complete the task himself. Death by cop as people used to say. I’m sorry the law enforcement officers had to experience this both the being shot at and the shooting of someone. As someone who has prior law enforcement experience you always know it’s a possibility and you accept that but you hope it never has to happen. Thank you LEO’s for everything you do every day.
Any Shooting, is a bad thing. However, Nothing good comes from shooting at an LEO.
I think I read the article right. Man shoots at cops, cops return fire, man dies!!! CASE CLOSED!!! Stop wasting my hard earned money on a stupid investigation,
To the one that said mental health should have been there,,,do you think they wouldn’t shoot them?? Don’t understand your logic!
@ ensley boy. This is the fairytale thinking of the uninformed people who looses touch with reality. This whole event lasted less than three minutes. If he wanted help he would have driven to the nearest intake facility that treat mental health. His decision was made when he drove out to Perdido Key with a gun. His decision was Suicide by cop. And I would love to see a psychiatrist at every call that is dispatched in Escambia County. Some things are just unavoidable.
@ensley boy – interesting. I wonder (as I’m sure you do as well) how many psychiatrists would step into the line of fire to do a field diagnosis. And, how useful could it possibly be? Bottom line, you’re just as dead if a psychotic person shoots you as someone who is completely sane.
Play stupid games…….win stupid prizes. Case closed no court date and we don’t have to pay for this mans treatments.
Waiting for the call that they should have had mental health people to arrive.When you shoot at a Deputy you will be shot, end of story.