Photo: Ilja Enger-Tsizikov / iStock / Getty Images
Polk County, FL - A man was shot and killed by deputies Sunday morning after allegedly attacking them with garden shears and attempting to seize a firearm from their patrol vehicle, just moments after he reportedly survived a bite from an alligator.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 42-year-old Timothy Schulz, who had recently been released from jail, according to authorities.
Authorities say the incident began around 6 a.m. when a gas station clerk reported a man behaving erratically and asking to contact his son.
Deputies searched the area but couldn’t locate him.
Roughly 90 minutes later, another call came in reporting a man swimming across a lake filled with alligators.
Sheriff Grady Judd told FOX 13 Tampa Bay that Schulz appeared to have sustained a bite to his right arm but still managed to swim across the lake without assistance.
He reportedly refused a life preserver and frightened a witness by growling.
When deputies arrived in Lakeland, they allegedly found Schulz trying to break into a car with a brick while holding garden shears.
Witnesses said he then charged at deputies and jumped into a running patrol car, where he allegedly reached for a secured firearm.
Fearing for their safety, deputies opened fire, fatally wounding him.
Photos released by authorities showed the patrol vehicle with multiple bullet holes.
Schulz had a lengthy criminal record and had been released from jail just days earlier.
A multi-agency investigation is underway, and the deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome.