Florida sheriff’s deputy shoots screwdriver-wielding man

TAMPA, Fla. – A Florida sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a man carrying a screwdriver after a confrontation in a residential neighbourhood.

The shooting happened early Thursday near Tampa.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s officials said in a news release that Deputy David Cloud was on routine patrol when he saw a man walking suspiciously through the neighbourhood. When he got out of his patrol car to talk to the man, the man pulled a screwdriver from a bag and aggressively approached him.

Investigators say the deputy shot 35-year-old Babak Payrow.

Payrow was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Deputies say Payrow has a prior arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and resisting arrest. Criminal charges are pending in this case. Neither his race or that of the deputy was released.