Deputy, dead suspect identified in weekend shooting
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. – Authorities have released the name of a man fatally shot by a Florida sheriff’s deputy last weekend.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Teri Barbera said Wednesday that 46-year-old Ricky Whidden was shot by Deputy Justin Rigney during Saturday morning’s confrontation in Loxahatchee.
Barbera says Whidden had a knife and was threatening to kill himself and his family. She says deputies tried negotiating with him and then knocked him down with a rubber-ball gun. She says that when they approached to arrest him, he jumped up and lunged at them with the knife. Rigney fired, killing him.
Whidden and Rigney are both white. Rigney has been placed on administrative leave with pay while the shooting is investigated.
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