A man is now dead, and an investigation is underway after a deputy-involved shooting in Bradford County Tuesday night.
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office says it all began Tuesday afternoon, when 39-year-old Michael Lamar Crawford made verbal threats to the call center of a nearby Florida Credit Union, before walking into one in Starke, Florida, visibly armed with a gun.
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Deputies later tracked Crawford down to his father’s house off County Road 225 and State Road 16 at around 7 p.m. Tuesday and say they tried to deescalate the situation. However, deputies say Crawford instead came out of the house with a shotgun, before going back inside and grabbing a second gun.
Investigators say Crawford then pointed one of those guns in a threatening manner, and deputies were forced to open fire, shooting and killing Crawford.
“Generally, our sheriff’s department, [if] people need help, they handle it the right way,” Starke local Carrie Potts told Action News Jax Wednesday morning. “And this guy went about it the wrong way. And it’s really sad.”
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Carrie Potts said Wednesday that she has a four-year-old who goes to the preschool just a couple of dozen feet away from where this deadly shooting happened, adding that it just highlights the need for mental health resources - to stop tragedies like this before they can even happen.
“Mental health, mental health is the biggest thing,” Potts said. “Small towns, big towns, it’s the most important thing no matter where you are.”
The Bradford County Sheriff’s office says no deputies were hurt in the incident, and this is still an ongoing investigation.
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