POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A man is dead after he was shot to death by Polk County deputies Monday. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Timothy Schultz, 42, was acting erratic when he charged at deputies while holding a pair of garden shears.
A clerk at a Racetrack convenience store on Highway 37 called 911 to report Schultz who was in the store acting “bizarre,” Judd said at a news conference Monday.
Deputies searched for the man for over 40 minutes before getting another call from two people about a man swimming in an alligator infested lake, the sheriff said.
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One of the witnesses said she tried to throw Schultz a life preserver. Another witness said he asked Schultz if he needed help and Schultz “growled” at him.
Deputies then received a call from people in a nearby gated community on the other side of the lake reporting a man was trying to break out a car window with a brick, Judd said.
Deputies confronted the man, who the sheriff said also tried to enter a patrol car to access a rifle. Judd said deputies tried Tasing Schultz, but it didn’t have any effect on him
Witnesses also reported the man charged at the deputies with the garden shears before they shot him, Judd said.
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When asked how Schultz got into the gated community, Judd responded, “he swam across the lake. ... He swam a long way across this lake and the fact that he was bitten by an alligator, significantly, and continued this rampage is shocking.
“This is crazy stuff. You can’t make it up,” Judd said.
Watch the full news conference here.
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