A Florida man who was apparently bitten while swimming in alligator-infested waters Monday morning was fatally shot after, officials said, he emerged from the lake and charged at sheriff’s deputies with garden shears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two deputies, including a trainee, opened fire on Timothy Schulz, 42, after they deployed a stun gun that appeared to have no effect and after Schulz tried to remove a firearm from their patrol cruiser, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe fact that he was bitten by an alligator and still continued his rampage is shocking,\u201d Judd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities first responded to a call involving Schulz at 5:56 a.m., when he appeared at a racetrack shaking and asking to call his son, Judd said. Deputies who responded to the area could not find him, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly two hours later, a witness spotted Schulz in Lakeland, south of Orlando, and reported that the man was in a lake with \u201ca lot\u201d of alligators, Judd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA witness actually took a life vest and tried to give it to him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t take it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another witness told authorities that Schulz growled when the person tried talking to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The witnesses reported that Schulz was treading water and that they could see only his head. At one point, an alligator appeared to bite his right arm, Judd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he emerged from the lake, Schulz was seen walking between houses in a residential area, carrying a pair of garden shears. At one point he threw a brick at a truck, Judd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As deputies arrived, Judd said, they saw Schulz apparently trying to break into a vehicle and quickly got out of their cruiser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Schulz charged at them with the shears, Judd said, they ordered him to drop the tool, then deployed the stun gun when he did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schulz climbed into the passenger side of the deputies’ patrol vehicle and appeared to try and remove a rifle or shotgun, Judd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“At that time our deputies shot multiple times,” Judd said. “As a result, Timothy is deceased.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the deputies will remain on administrative leave while the state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office reviews the shooting, per department policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judd said Schulz has faced several methamphetamine charges and was released from county jail most recently on May 20. An affidavit in that case says a deputy found a glass pipe in a backpack Schulz was carrying that tested positive for the drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n