The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reported receiving at least twelve calls over the past five months concerning the man’s conduct in the neighborhood.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Update: Bradd Sweeny, 45, has been identified as the victim in the shooting. The officers involved have been named as Deputy Joseph Mailloux and Deputy Kristapher James. Both have been placed on administrative leave.
Two deputies from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed a man early on Wednesday morning in a neighborhood in St. Augustine South, according to a sheriff’s office director who spoke with First Coast News.
The family of the man killed declined to be on camera, but they said the suspect struggled with a mental illness.
SJSO Director Skip Cole reported that the sheriff’s office communication center received a 911 call at approximately 5:40 a.m. about a suspicious individual from a resident near the intersection of 1st Street and Brainard Drive.
Cole stated that two deputies were dispatched to the location. Upon arrival, they encountered a man with a firearm in front of the home of the 911 caller.
Deputies gave verbal commands to the man, but Cole said things unfolded “very quickly.”
Cole indicated that when the man failed to comply, both deputies fired at him. They then provided medical assistance to the individual, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although the man’s identity was not released because his family has not yet been notified about his death, Cole said the man was 45 years old and was very well-known in the neighborhood.
“We’ve got at least a dozen calls in the past five months regarding his behavior in the neighborhood,” Cole said. “[He’s had] numerous encounters with law enforcement.”
Cole further told First Coast News that the two deputies involved in the incident were not injured, and that the neighborhood is safe.
When asked if the man pointed his gun at the deputies, Cole said that is being investigated.
First Coast News talked with neighbors in the community. “It’s tragic when anything like this happens,” neighbor Wayne Pholer said.
A video of the incident has been posted on Facebook by the sheriff’s office. Warning: It is graphic.
