A man who had recently been released from jail was fatally shot by cops after he charged at them with garden shears following a swim in a Florida lake where he was bitten by alligators, police say.
Timothy Schulz, 42, was under the influence of meth when he was found by police in Lakeland, Florida, a little over an hour’s drive southwest of Orlando, according to authorities.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to a convenience store Monday morning after a report about a “bizarre” man who was asking to call his son, according to WKMG.
Police said they searched for Schulz, but he could not be found until almost two hours later, when they received a call about a man in a lake where an alligator was swimming. Schulz, who was released from jail on May 20, was treading water, a witness told police, but only his head was visible, according to the report.
According to the witness, when they attempted to talk to Schulz, he growled at them. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that another person “actually took a life vest and tried to give it to [Schulz]” but that “he wouldn’t take it,” according to reports.
Schulz was walking from the lake with garden shears when police arrived, according to authorities. After the former inmate charged at the cops with the shears, “our deputies tried to de-escalate,” Judd said.
“We also tried to taze him on two different occasions and he continued to charge at them,” he added.
The cops shot at Schulz multiple times after he entered a police vehicle and tried to get ”the rifle and/or the shotgun out,” Judd said.
The sheriff said that when Schulz went for the guns, “all the warnings had to stop and the action had to begin.”
Schulz died in the shooting, and no cops were injured. The deputies who were involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave pending investigation as per standard procedure, according to reports.
Judd was surprised by Schulz’s actions: “The fact that he was bitten by an alligator and still continued his rampage is shocking.”
However, he added, “If you’re on enough meth, then the person you see is not the person that’s attacking.”
The former inmate has faced multiple meth-related charges, according to authorities.
