WAUCHULA, Fla. — Two deputies shot and killed a man who was charging at them with knives in both hands Wednesday night outside a Wauchula home, according to the Hardee County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies first responded to a home on Sweet Gum Parkway in an attempt to locate Daniel Jenkins, a man with active warrants for his arrest.
One sheriff's office sergeant said he was looking through the window of the home and could see Jenkins walking inside. A short time later, deputies contacted people inside the home who confirmed that Jenkins had fled to an area two streets over.
The sheriff's office then tracked Jenkins to another home on Evergreen Drive off of Griffin Road.
“Jenkins is here and armed with a knife," Deputy Brandon Sheahan said over the radio to other responding deputies.
Sheahan continued conversation with Jenkins in an unsuccessful attempt to disarm him.
"I'm not doing it, I can't do it no more, bro," Jenkins reportedly responded.
Sheahan then told Jenkins that if he did not drop the knives, deputies would send a K-9 over to bite him, the sheriff's office said.
Still, deputies said Jenkins ignored their orders.
As deputies told Jenkins again to "put the knives down," he said "It's over" and charged at them with "knives in an aggressive position," according to the sheriff's office.
Sergeant Ethan Tyler and Deputy Sergio Soto reportedly fired a combined 13 rounds at Jenkins, who fell to the ground. A Wauchula police officer also discharged a Taser toward the suspect.
Despite deputies' attempts at life-saving measures, Jenkins was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both Tyler and Sergio have been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol in cases involving deadly force.
The shooting will be investigated by the 10th Judicial Circuit's Officer-Involved Deadly Incident Task Force, the State Attorney's Office and the Hardee County Sheriff's Office.
"I am proud of my deputies and thankful they were not injured. Mr. Jenkins chose how tonight would end. He was allowed to surrender peacefully; however, he chose [the] outcome. My thoughts and prayers are extended to Mr. Jenkins’ family," Sheriff Vent Crawford said.