Grand Jury clears Indian River County deputies in 2022 fatal shooting at hospital ER

VERO BEACH — A grand jury has cleared Indian River County sheriff’s deputies who in 2022 fatally shot a 29-year-old man at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital who was there under Florida’s Baker Act law, according to court records and a prosecutor.

By returning a “no true bill,” the grand jury seated in Indian River County on June 28 found two deputies were justified in using deadly force after being presented with evidence related to the March 26, 2022 fatal shooting that happened in the hospital’s emergency room as the man charged toward four deputies armed with scissors.

The grand jury, whose proceedings and votes are secret, heard from 11 witnesses in determining whether to criminally indict two deputies who fired the fatal shots. Both are members of the Special Weapons and Tactical team who were at the hospital on an unrelated case.

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Sheriff’s officials last year released the man’s name, but TCPalm is not identifying him because he was at a hospital under a Baker Act.

The Florida Mental Health Act, better known as the Baker Act, permits people with mental illness to be held, voluntarily or involuntarily, in a mental health facility for up to 72 hours if the person is deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers on Wednesday said the deputies who fired their weapons “had to make a split-second decision.”

“I've said from the very beginning our deputies absolutely saved the lives of people in the ER, as well as protected themselves. You know, our folks leave home hoping they never have to use their firearm,” he said. “Unfortunately, on this day, two of our deputies had to use their firearm, and they had to do what we all hope that we never have to do, which is take a life.

Added Flowers: “It's a sad circumstance. This guy was definitely in a mindset of suicide-by-cop; there's no doubt about it from the body cam video and the surveillance video from inside the hospital.”

Hospital officials have declined to release surveillance video of the shooting or any details related to the man’s case.

Man armed himself with scissors

A day after the incident, Flowers said the man had been on a gurney in a hallway near the emergency room around 10:30 p.m., when he grabbed "a pair of large scissors" and started running down a corridor.

Four deputies in the hospital at the time heard the commotion and turned to chase the man. As they closed in on him, the man turned and “raised the scissors up above his head,” Flowers said, which forced deputies to retreat down a narrow hallway lined with gurneys and equipment.

Flowers on Wednesday said when the man saw deputies were coming toward him, “he turns and runs at them with the scissors, and they have moments to make a decision about what to do.”

“The two that fired were the closest to him as he turned around to come back at them. From the time the deputies see the man running, to the time that there they fire on him, it's maybe three seconds,” Flowers said. “In those situations, we don't train our deputies to shoot to kill; we train our deputies to use their tools to stop a threat. And in this particular circumstance, when somebody presents a deadly threat to you, you have to respond with that same deadly response.”

Flowers again cited Marsy’s Law for not releasing the names of the deputies involved.

Introduced in memory of a young woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Marsy’s Law was created to offer crime victims a slate of rights, including protecting them and their families from harassment by their attackers.

Some law enforcement officials have interpreted the statute as applying to any victim, as well as to law enforcement officers being entitled to privacy and having their identity protected.

Citizen review

Chief Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell, who presented evidence to the grand jury with Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman, said their investigators respond to the scene of any officer-involved fatality and conduct an independent investigation before presenting their findings to a grand jury.

“We take these matters very seriously and we think it's appropriate for the citizens of our circuit to hear the case,” he said. “Every time there's the deadly use of force by an officer, a grand jury is going to hear what happened and the circumstances surrounding it … so the grand jury can see what happened as citizens of our circuit.”

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It was clear, Gosnell said, that prior to being shot, the man “engaged the officers with a deadly weapon.”

“They were telling him to drop the scissors and then they fired,” he said. “It's a horribly unfortunate scenario. But it is ultimately how this happened. “

The issues of how the man got the scissors or why he was at the hospital were not relevant to the grand jury determining “whether or not these officers were justified in what they did,” Gosnell said.

Why was the man Baker Acted?

Flowers has said that a day before the shooting, the man’s family in Sebastian brought him to the hospital following a suicide attempt. A Baker Act was initiated by a medical professional at the emergency department.

“He had attempted to hang himself; he had multiple lacerations, where he was cutting his wrists, his legs,” Flowers said after the incident.

According to Flowers, investigators learned hospital officials arranged to transfer the man to Neuro-Psychiatric Addiction Clinic in Port St. Lucie, but he was rejected entry and returned to the hospital because he was under a 72-hour Baker Act hold and the clinic is not a state-designated Baker Act receiving facility.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Indian River County sheriff's deputies cleared in 2022 fatal shooting