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Grady Judd: Man with knife who wanted to be shot, killed by deputy in Lake Wales

By and FOX 13 News Staff
Updated  April 11, 2025 6:15pm EDT
Lake Wales
FOX 13 News

Man armed with knife killed by Polk County deputy

FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports from Lake Wales.

The Brief

    • The suspect went into two homes in Polk County and told those living there he wanted to be shot.
    • The suspect came at deputies with a knife and was shot and killed Friday afternoon.
    • The name of the man has not been released.

LAKE WALES, Fla. - A Polk County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man Friday afternoon after the man came at them with a knife, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.

The backstory:

Judd said the man, whose name has not been released, went into the garage of a 78-year-old man on Masterpiece Road and asked for a gun. The suspect also told the homeowner that he wanted to be shot and killed. The homeowner told the suspect to leave, and he did.

A short time later the suspect went into the house of a woman and told her he wanted to be killed, according to Judd. The lady told him to leave, and he did.

A 911 call was made to the sheriff's office telling them what the man had done. Deputies arrived and tried to resolve the matter, but the suspect came toward them with the knife saying he wanted to be killed, said Judd.

One of the deputies opened fire, killing the man.

What they're saying:

"This man is dangerous. He presented himself as dangerous, and he asked to be shot. He demanded to be shot, and then he asked us to shoot him, so we obliged him. He asked for it and he got it. Our deputies were in a position of grave danger and risk, and they protected themselves," said Judd.

Judd said last night the suspect went into another home and took food out of the refrigerator and started to eat. The homeowner demanded that he leave and he did. Judd said they were not called for assistance in that case.

Neighbor Accounts

A neighbor who didn't want to be identified says she learned from her family members that a stranger had entered their house through the back door Thursday night.

"He went into the kitchen and went into our fridge," she said. "He was all sweaty because he was jumping on the trampoline. He scared my mother-in-law on accident because she was cooking in the kitchen. He apologized for scaring her." 

Her family didn't call 911 but asked him to leave. Then, on Friday, the same man returned at around 1 p.m.

"I came out, and I asked him politely – I was like, ‘Hey, how can I help you?’ He was just like, ‘Hey, I came to tell you guys I am going to pay you guys for the bottle.’ I didn't know what he was talking about. He looked so gone away and drugged up." 

She asked him to leave her yard.

Deputies say the man entered other homes and told the people living there he wanted to be shot. A homeowner called 911, and then Polk County deputies arrived.

"Both of the deputies were yelling at him to put the knife down," said the neighbor. "He was trying to approach them, so, of course, the deputies had no other option but to defend themselves and shot him."

"I never imagined that he was going to die shortly after just stepping foot inside our yard," she said. "Maybe if he just didn't approach the deputies, none of that would've happened to him."

Dig deeper:

The suspect is from the Gainesville area and had been in Lake Wales for the last two weeks staying with friends, according to Judd.

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