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Man armed with knife killed by deputy during eviction at apartment complex in Sarasota
Kimberly Kuizon reports
SARASOTA, Fla. - When the owner of a Sarasota apartment died back in September, family of the deceased asked the man's roommate of 11 years to move out so they could sell the property. But according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, the roommate refused to leave.
Six months later, he was killed when he armed himself with a knife and charged toward deputies who came to evict him.
It happened Friday morning in a fourth-floor apartment of Palm Place in downtown Sarasota.
"Anytime you serve any civil processed paperwork, it can be a highly, emotionally charged, interaction," said sheriff's office spokesperson Kaitlyn Perez.
Perez said the 58-year-old man lived with the owner for about a decade.
After the owner's death, investigators say the family hired an attorney and began eviction proceedings when the roommate would not leave.
This week, the family attorney obtained a writ of possession and went to the apartment Thursday to notify the man he had 24 hours to vacate. Three deputies and the attorney came back Friday, 24 hours after posting the notice on the door, and entered the apartment using a key the attorney provided.
'We know for sure the eviction notice was served 24 hours ago which means placement of signage on his door, what I don’t know is if deputies had any verbal interaction with him. The same deputies that were involved in this incident served that paperwork yesterday and posted that sign," said Perez.
The man was there and armed himself with a knife, according to the sheriff's office. The deputies tried to verbally deescalate the situation. One of them fired their Taser, which also failed to subdue the man. Deputies said he lunged forward and one of the deputies fired her duty weapon once.
The sheriff's office said the deputies rendered first aid and CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sarasota County Deputies are one of the few agencies in the area that do not wear body cameras. They will be relying on interview from the deputies present, along with the lawyer in their investigation.
"In many ways it was kind of like squatting in this unit. He was not able to be here, his name was not on the lease, he should not have been here," said Perez.
The sheriff's office said, because the shooting happened in the city of Sarasota, deputies are working with police to obtain more history on the address and people who lived there.
The identity of the suspect will be withheld until next of kin has been notified.
Per procedure, the deputy who fired her gun is on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues.