Man dead after being shot by two Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in which two deputies shot and killed a man Sunday morning after officials said he threatened them with a gun.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, a woman called 911 at 9:06 a.m. Sunday to report a man threatening her with a gun. Deputies responded to the scene in approximately five minutes.
The deputies spoke with the suspect on the telephone and persuaded him to come to the window with his hands raised. The suspect then allowed the deputies to enter the house to retrieve the victim, who had barricaded herself in a bedroom, according to the report.
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The suspect’s mother exited the house, and four deputies entered to find the suspect with his hands up.
“Inside the house, the man reached behind his back in what appeared to be his waistband and pulled out a semi-automatic firearm, had it at the low ready position and chambered a round by racking the slide on the firearm,” said Sarasota Sheriff Kurt Hoffman at an afternoon press conference.
According to Hoffman, two deputies fired at the suspect when he raised his gun and pointed it at the deputies, killing the man, who was later identified as Brian Underwood, 47.
“This is the second domestic-related incident that our deputies have been involved in with an officer-involved shooting in the last 10 days,” said Hoffman.
He also referenced a third incident that happened on Friday in Venice, in which a deputy had to physically engage a suspect who was holding a knife. That suspect later died.
In May, a Sarasota County deputy was found to have acted lawfully when she shot and killed Jeremiah Evans, 65, during a court-ordered eviction.
“This is still a very dangerous profession, and we handle these calls as professionally as we can,” said Hoffman. “It’s unfortunate that this and also the call a few days ago ended with the suspects losing their life, but that’s the situation they made and the deputies responded what appears to be appropriately.”
Hoffman also mentioned that deputies had responded to the location of the shooting in the past for family disturbances, but none of those encounters resulted in an arrest.
The Sheriff’s Office has withheld the names of the four deputies involved in the shooting, claiming that they qualify as victims of aggravated assault and therefore their identities can be protected under Marsy’s Law.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sheriff: Two Sarasota deputies involved in shooting
