Sheriff deputy shoots, kills armed man in Florida

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Authorities say a sheriff deputy has shot and killed an armed man in Florida after he pointed his firearm at the officer.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said in a Saturday statement that deputies were told the gunman was threatening to kill another family member in a rural area north of Pensacola.

The suspect did not follow the deputies’ orders and raised his gun in the direction of one of them. The man was shot and died at the scene Friday.

The sheriff’s office has not named him or the deputy involved, but it said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

Deputies were originally responding to a welfare check in a remote area near the Alabama border in the northwestern tip of the Florida Panhandle.