The man fatally shot by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies was identified as Lew G. Tyree II, 42 of 3219 Bloomingdale Villas Court in Brandon.
According HCSO Sheriff David Gee, the incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, March, 4, which began with a man burning a pile of clothes outside his home. He then, carrying a large butcher knife, roamed through the neighborhood, stabbed a cat, and tried to break into one of the apartments.
At that point the deputies rushed to the scene and confronted the man, who Gee said was threatening the deputies.
Gee said deputies hoped to subdue the man with a taser, which had no affect on him.
“As the deputies perceived a direct threat they have almost simultaneously shot him,” Gee said.
“The man was only a few feet away with the large knife and there was nothing our deputies could have done any differently.”
The man was taken to Brandon Regional Hospital where he since died. “This is the firsts of such incidents in the community,” said Bloomingdale Villas resident John Collins. “It’s a pretty good neighborhood, but with one child and another on the way I might be moving now. We just have to be careful.”
Gee said that the investigation is now ongoing and the State attorney will review the case. The three deputies are placed on routine administrative leave as the department will work on figuring out what led up to the shooting.
HCSO will provide the names involves with the shooting after family is notified.
Update will come as it becomes available.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) was identified as Lew G. Tyree II, 42, of 3219 Bloomingdale Villas Court in Brandon. Tyree died as a result of his injuries at Brandon Regional Hospital.
The three HCSO District IV Deputies involved in the shooting includes, Deputy Steve Gutierrez, 35, Deputy Marina Stroud, 34 and Deputy James Maiello, 25.
HCSO confirmed that the deputies made numerous commands for Tyree to drop the weapon, ( large butcher knife) but he would not comply. At that time, Tyree turned towards deputies and made threatening comments from about 5 ft. away. In fear for their lives, all three deputies fired at the subject.
