LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Sheriff’s deputies fatally shot a suspected carjacker who came at deputies with a filet knife during a traffic stop Tuesday night in Palm Beach County, the sheriff said in a late night news conference.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the white man in his 20s had carjacked and stabbed an Uber driver earlier Tuesday evening in neighboring Broward County.
Deputies stopped the vehicle around 8 p.m. and the man got out holding the knife, Bradshaw said. He added that deputies put some distance between themselves and the man, but the situation rapidly escalated when the man lunged toward them.
The sheriff did not identify or say how many deputies fired at the man.
“It’s unfortunate. We’ve had so many incidences over the past 30 days where we’ve encountered people with knives and guns, and we’ve been able to deescalate it, and talk them down,” Bradshaw said. “This was one of those situations where the individual just was not going to be talked to, even though the deputies tried to put some distance between them and the suspect.”
The sheriff said someone who lived in the area recorded the incident on a cellphone.
The Uber driver’s injuries are not considered to be life-threatening, the sheriff said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office will investigate. The deputies have been placed on administrative leave, which is customary while a shooting is being investigated.
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