A samurai sword-wielding man was fatally shot by police Thursday after threatening family members with knives and attacking a sheriff's deputy with the sword, authorities said.
According to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, the mother of Gordon Talmage Kimbrell Jr. called 911 Thursday night to report that her 22-year-old son was acting violently after drinking a half-bottle of rum. Relatives said he threw knives at them in the Navarre, Florida, home about 22 miles east of Pensacola.
When another person tried to calm Kimbrell, he came toward the person with knives, forcing that person retreat into a bedroom, the report says. Kimbrell stabbed the door and then went outside with the sword.
When deputies arrived, they found Kimbrell in the street waving the sword. They told him to drop the sword several times and tried to subdue him with a non-lethal gun that fires bean bags at high speed, but Kimbrell hit Deputy Matt Ray with the sword several times, Deputy Richard Aloy said in a news release. To protect Ray, Sgt. Brian Miller then shot Kimbrell, killing him, Aloy said.
Ray was listed in good condition Friday.
King was placed on administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the case.
