Sheriff: Deputies kill man who ran at them with a knife

THE VILLAGES, Fla. – Sheriff’s deputies fatally shot a man who attacked them with a knife late Tuesday outside a gas station in north Florida, investigators said.

Marion County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Bloom said during a Wednesday morning news conference that the deputies had just finished gassing up their vehicles at the Circle K in The Villages when a man jumped out of his vehicle and came at them with a large knife.

Neither deputy was injured, Bloom said. They administered first aid to the man until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital. He was pronounced dead there, Bloom said.

Investigators said they don’t know why the man attacked the deputies. He lived alone in southern Marion County and had no previous interaction with the sheriff’s office, according to Bloom.

The names of the deputies or the dead man haven’t been released. Bloom said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting and report it to the state attorney.

Both deputies have been placed on administrative leave, which is the standard procedure during a shooting investigation, Bloom said.

The Villages is southeast of Ocala.