This is a wild story about
- how running with scissors is a bad idea
- alligator bites can’t even stop a dude on meth
- cops continue to have no clue what de-escalation tactics are
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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It's kind of like Florida in a nutshell lol
Honestly I think in this case the cops responded as they should. They tried teasing him and that didn’t do anything and then he tried to take a rifle from them. At that point they didn’t have a lot of options.
The fact that you (an average US citizen, presumably) think tasing is de-escalation is literally part of the problem.
I was trained by US cops multiple times during my 10 years of security work. Sadly, I didn't receive much for de-escalation training. I had to learn it myself. Oh sure sometimes escalation (like sounding intimidating while moving your hand to your hip) worked as a method of de-escalation, most of the time it was to reinforce the mantra to "ensure you go home at night".
Tasers aren't even non-lethal, they are now (properly, with public outcry) considered "less lethal". No pepper spray or mace mentioned, no trip attacks, no net, no means of incapacitating him before reaching to the nearest gun-like object.
Meanwhile, we have no one there to assess him to determine what his medical and/or psychological needs are, because "he's dangerous".
The cops brought the rifle.
I get what you’re saying. I would agree in almost every case. Not on this one. You try to reason with a violent meth head that is this out of his marbles and see how that turns out for you.
No one said to reason with them. Just neutralise them without using a lethal weapon. Mace, batons and manpower will put any unarmed person on the ground.
He wasn’t unarmed.
Japan has man catcher poles that allow you to subdue someone without getting near them. They allow you to hold the person until they get tired or you can get the weapon away from them.
These should be standard in every police force.
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lol social workers and public librarians do this every single day without guns
If you think killing people is an okay - and only - method of stopping a human, maybe try to learn more options. YouTube is free.
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Maybe tazing someone isn't the best idea. There are other methods of suppression.
Also once it doesnt work, most police forces in most civilized places know how to take a man down without shooting him up, even if he is trying to take your gun. Its only in the US that cops seem to think fuck any semblance of a threat means I can start blasting people to timbuktu
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I don't think they should have teased him. If I'm upset and someone teases me, that just makes me more upset!
spoiler
I kid, I kid. 😂
Hahaha those silly cops!
Bullshit, man.
Clock the dude with the handle of a pistol in his head.
Kick him in the balls.
Run away from him.
Blind him.
Not that I agree with some of those options, but my point is, executing a man who clearly needs help ain't it
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They tried teasing him and that didn’t do anything
"HEY FLORIDA MAN! NEE NEER NEE NEER NEEEEEE NEEEERRRR!!! YOU GOT A SMALL WEEEEEIIIIINNNNEEERRRRRR!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!........well that didn't work...SHOOT HIM!!!"
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What if they were meth alligators, and the bites are why he's high? Then it's that much more tragic for you to judge.
This is a prime example of when we just need to net gun a dude.
A witness told detectives they saw the suspect run at deputies with the shears. He was tased twice, but it didn't stop him.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he climbed into the passenger side of a PCSO patrol vehicle, trying to get a deputy’s rifle.
That’s when two deputies, identified as a trainee and his trainer, opened fire on the suspect, killing him.
If you look up "failing up" in the dictionary, there is a picture of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd staring back at you with his dead, dead eyes.
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The epitome of FloridaMan is now deceased. There will never be another like him.
FloridaMan is like the Slayer. When one dies, another is called.
I would say killing a Florida Man is like cutting the head off a hydra.
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Can some copy/paste article please. Site is blocked in my country
A man in Polk County was shot and killed by deputies on Monday after they say he was armed with garden shears and acting erratically after surviving an apparent gator attack.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies began searching for Timothy Schultz, 42, just before 6 a.m. after a convenience store clerk reported he was acting "bizarre."
Deputies spend about 40 minutes looking for the man, WFLA says.
Schultz then began swimming in an alligator-infested lake, nearby residents told officials.
A witness tried to throw Schultz a life preserver and another witness said Schultz growled at them when they tried to help, PCSO said.
Witnesses told deputies an alligator was spotted close to him as he swam across the lake.
Schultz emerged from the lake with an apparent alligator bite and began walking between houses while holding a pair of garden shears.
PCSO said he then used a brick to attempt to break into a resident’s truck.
A witness told detectives they saw the suspect run at deputies with the shears. He was tased twice, but it didn't stop him.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he climbed into the passenger side of a PCSO patrol vehicle, trying to get a deputy’s rifle.
That’s when two deputies, identified as a trainee and his trainer, opened fire on the suspect, killing him.
Judd said Schultz had a lengthy criminal history that included several arrests for methamphetamine.
This is a developing story and will be updated
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I guess that solves the question if gators or cops are better to come across in a swamp.
ACAB
RTFA. PCSO said he then used a brick to attempt to break into a resident’s truck.
A witness told detectives they saw the suspect run at deputies with the shears. He was tased twice, but it didn't stop him.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he climbed into the passenger side of a PCSO patrol vehicle, trying to get a deputy’s rifle.
That’s when two deputies, identified as a trainee and his trainer, opened fire on the suspect, killing him.
Judd said Schultz had a lengthy criminal history that included several arrests for methamphetamine.
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Assuming what is said in the article is true, this is a rare case where I think the lethal force is justifiable. The dude was probably on meth and their tasers where doing nothing as he attempted to take one of their rifles.
That headline was a better story arc than Last of Us season 2.
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