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Police Kill Florida Tech Student Armed with ‘Edged Weapon'

Two multi-ethnic police officers standing in front of patrol cars, behind police tape, wearing bulletproof vests and duty belts. The policewoman is a mature African-American woman in her 40s. Her partner is a mid adult man in his 30s. It is nighttime and the emergency lights on top of the vehicles are flashing. The focus is on the cordon tape in the foreground.

Authorities killed a Florida Institute of Technology student who lunged at a police officer with an "edged weapon" on the college campus Friday night, police said.

The Melbourne Police Department on Saturday said 18-year-old Alhaji M. Sow, of Riverdale, Georgia, was fatally shot by police and a school security guard in a campus building during the attack.

In a news release, police said they responded to the campus around 11 p.m. Friday to investigate reports of a man armed with a knife who was assaulting students.

College security and police confronted Sow in a building when he lunged at an officer with an “edged weapon,” causing the officer and security guard to fatally shoot Sow, the release said. The officer sustained an injury, though the news release did not give additional information. Officials also did not give additional details about the "edged weapon."

The college, on its Facebook page, said Sow was a sophomore studying aeronautical science. It is offering counseling services to students.

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