A 45-year-old man was shot and killed by St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies early Wednesday morning after authorities said he confronted them with a handgun in a South St. Augustine neighborhood.
Skip Cole, director of criminal investigations for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies were dispatched around 5:40 a.m. to Brainard Drive and First Street after a woman called 911 to report a suspicious person in her backyard.
She believed the individual was a neighbor with whom she had a prior dispute that day.
Two deputies arrived within 10 minutes and immediately encountered the armed man in front of the caller’s residence, Cole said.
The deputies gave verbal commands, but the suspect refused to comply. Both deputies fired their service weapons, striking him.
“They both rendered aid, but ultimately the suspect was pronounced deceased,” Cole said.
The man, whose name has not yet been released, was described as well known in the neighborhood with “at least a dozen calls in the past five months” tied to his behavior.
Cole confirmed both deputies were uninjured.
Their names, along with the identity of the suspect, will be released once next of kin are notified.
Body-worn cameras were active during the incident.
The shooting remains under investigation, and additional details will be released as the case develops.
“The neighborhood is safe,” Cole said. “We have multiple witnesses, multiple people related to the investigation, and we are still working through those issues as we speak.”
