A Florida man was killed on Monday when he approached police officers with garden shears.

Two deputies from Polk County shot Timothy Patrick Schulz, aged 42, following a report of a man behaving erratically at a RaceTrac location in Lakeland. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained that the deputies spent 40 minutes searching for Schulz without success, until they received another call about a man in a lake known to have alligators, as detailed by the Lakeland Ledger.

A witness said they tried to throw a life preserver to Schulz, “but he growled at me, so I ran in the house and locked the door.”

According to the Lakeland Ledger, Schulz emerged from the lake with a pair of garden shears. He allegedly threw a rock at a vehicle and then rushed towards the officers wielding the garden shears.

The officers reportedly used a taser on Schulz twice, but he continued advancing towards them, disregarding their orders to halt. Officers subsequently opened fire on Schulz after he entered a police vehicle that was running and attempted to extract a rifle or shotgun from its holder, as stated by Judd.

Judd noted that Schulz — who had a history of methamphetamine-related arrests — had a fresh bite mark on his arm that likely came from an alligator.

“I don’t know if this is a suicide by cop or suicide by being absolutely out of your mind on methamphetamine. But he showed no fear of two deputies, he showed no interest in complying. Even after he was tased, he still ran,” he said, per the Lakeland Ledger.

WKMG reported from Schulz was released from jail on May 20, days before his shooting death. No officers were injured in Monday’s incident.

[Feature Photo: Polk County police]