BOKEELIA, Fla. --- A deputy was attacked with a knife after responding to a public assistance call Thursday.
It happened around 2pm at a home on Aura Lane in the Bokeelia community on Pine Island.
Brian Beaty admits his father Ricky has been struggling with his mental health for a while now. So it was no surprise to him that his dad called 911, threatening to take his life.
Ricky was holding a knife when Lee County Sheriff's deputies arrived.
Lee County Undersheriff Carmine Marceno gave a press conference on the shooting. “Shortly after speaking to that suspect, he began to attack our deputy with a knife. Subsequently stabbing our deputy. Our deputy in fear for his life and safety, discharged his fire arm striking the subject.”
Marceno says the deputy wasn't seriously hurt.
But Rickey was. "I went to my dad and grabbed a towel and applied it to the gunshot wound."
Neighbors tell Fox 4 the suspect in question was not in the right state of mind. "He’s been pretty depressed,” explained Christine Volkert, a seasonal visitor to the neighborhood. “He called someone and said that he was going to kill — shoot himself.”
Police were seen swarming to the scene. “We saw all the ambulances, fire truck, detectives and police and they just kept coming and coming,” said Volkert.
This is an active investigation.
