SEBRING, Fla. — A 39-year-old man is dead after he put a child covered in a blanket into a fire and was then shot by a Highlands County Sheriff's deputy Tuesday afternoon.
At 4:07 p.m., authorities received a report regarding several people who were burning a pile of debris on the side of Bay Blossom Drive at the intersection of US. 98 in Sebring, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
Crews with the Highlands County Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, but after they noticed the situation looked suspicious, they requested law enforcement to take a look, deputies say.
When two deputies arrived, they found Richard Ham armed with two metal rods, authorities say. The deputies then told Ham to drop the rods, but he refused and then a taser was used on him. However, the taser did not impact Ham as he pulled the probes from his body and grabbed one of the bars again.
The 39-year-old reportedly used the bar to swing it at one of the deputies and hit them in the head.
The other deputy then fired his gun at Ham, the sheriff's office says.
Ham was taken to a hospital where he later died. The injured deputy was also taken to another hospital but has since been released after being treated.
Investigators say Ham and Lakenya Phillips, 30, were burning the belongings of Phillips' 9-year-old son because they thought he was being possessed by a demon.
Witnesses reportedly told law enforcement that Ham at one point even put the child into the fire and covered him with a blanket, which caught fire. Luckily, the child did not suffer any serious injuries.
Deputies say Phillips and her son were listed as missing and endangered out of Kansas on Dec. 6. Authorities still do not know when or why they arrived in Highlands County.
"Multiple firearms and drugs were found in the vehicle Ham and Phillips were driving at the time," the news release mentioned. "This incident will be investigated by the 10th Judicial Circuit Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force."