A man who barricaded himself inside a central Florida home was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies when he lunged at them with a knife, stabbing one of them in the head, sheriff's officials said.
Three Polk County Sheriff's deputies went to the home Sunday afternoon to investigate a report of a woman's adult son “trying to smother her."
The woman told the 911 dispatcher she had been taking a nap on the couch and woke up as her 47-year-old son was pressing a pillow into her face. She was able to get away and call for help from her car, the report said.
She told deputies she did not know why her son, Arthur Martin, was trying to kill her. She said they had not had any recent arguments, the report said. Martin barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom, officials said.
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Deputies ordered Martin to come out, but he refused. Once they entered the bedroom and saw he had retreated to the master bathroom. That's when they said he lunged at them with a knife, hitting Deputy Aurelio Nicolas in the face and stabbing him on the top of the head, the report said.
Nicolas used a stun gun on Martin, but it was not effective, the report said.
Martin continued fighting with the deputies and all three shot him, the report said.
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Nicolas was taken to the hospital, where he received stitches for his wound. He is expected to make a full recovery, the report said.
Martin had a criminal history in Suffolk, New York, where he served four years in prison and was released on parole in 2019. He registered as a felon in Florida and his parole was set to expire in 2024.
Standard protocol for deputy-involved shootings in Polk County includes four independent investigations: the homicide unit will conduct a death investigation, the sheriff's administrative team will conduct an inquiry; the State Attorney’s Office will complete a separate investigation; and the medical examiner will investigate to determine a manner of death.
