Domestic abuse escalates into SWAT standoff, fatal Jacksonville police shooting

A lengthy SWAT standoff with a man who has been terrorizing a woman for months ended with police shooting and killing him as he tried to stab a K-9, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Chief Alan Parker said it began with a call about a possible kidnapping and burglary at a home in the 12700 block of Copper Springs Road near Hodges Boulevard. It came from the woman's friend about 12:30 a.m. saying the woman could not get out of the home after he forced his way in and was threatening her with a knife. The woman had texted the friend.

She had ended their relationship but he continued stalking her and had several incidents reported including last December for a domestic battery, February for an aggravated assault and grand theft, March for stalking and a burglary this month, Parker said. Warrants had been issued for his arrest. The charges Wednesday would have been for burglary with assault, false imprisonment and resisting an officer with violence.

Parker said she had moved away from him, but he was able to access some communication between her and a real estate agent to find out where she was renting. He had previously disabled her garage door so that she couldn't lock it. She thought she had it fixed, but he forced his way in Wednesday morning and then kicked the door in from inside the garage. He was armed with a knife.

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Officers were familiar with the residence from the prior call in March, the chief said. They didn't get any response when they arrived. They learned she was in the back bedroom but couldn't leave without him seeing. He was threatening her with the knife as he's done before, Parker said. But they were able to talk with her through the friend and convinced her to go out the bathroom window.

They got her to safety and talked with her more. The suspect, 38-year-old Matvey Anthony Klimenko, made contact with police from the door but went back inside after throwing some objects. He also still had the knife, Parker said.

SWAT was called in about 5 a.m. After several hours of negotiations back and forth, the man exited out back with the knife. Some officers were at the side of the house, but he did not comply with commands, Parker said. They used a 40mm less-lethal round on him, but it was ineffective.

He ran behind the neighboring house and was trying to get into another house's fenced area when the SWAT team deployed a K-9.

"When the dog got to him, he was holding the dog back with his left hand, and as the SWAT officers and everybody closed giving him commands, he raised the knife in an apparent attempt to stab the dog," Parker said.

That's when an officer engaged him firing his rifle. Klimenko died on scene. It was the officer's second police shooting, the chief said.

"The suspect had plenty of opportunities. Just comply and this would have been over hours ago," Parker said. "He pushed it to this level and unfortunately it ended in this manner. Luckily the victim is safe, the officer is safe, the dog is safe."

The woman was scared for her life and this was ongoing and culminated Wednesday, he said.

Court records show Klimenko has injunctions for protection from domestic violence filed against him by three different women from 2019 to 2021 — a family member, his mother and his ex-wife. All referenced his drug addiction, temper and threats.

A neighbor said this didn't involve family but a girlfriend. She also said some of the information isn't being portrayed accurately. She said they had been living there and only recently had he apparently been kicked out, so the part about tracking her down doesn't make sense. She also said he had been in a bad accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He often talked about trying to get his life back together.

She said yes they had a toxic relationship and some issues, but he wasn't necessarily a bad man.

The shooting is the fourth by Jacksonville police this year, all fatal. Last year the city had 12 police shootings resulting in injuries, eight of which were fatal, according to Times-Union records.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville police shoot, kill suspect in Patton Park SWAT standoff