JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The family of a man shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting Wednesday on Jacksonville's Westside say they feel he hit a breaking point with recent struggles in his life before he was killed.
26-year-old Paton John Pinette was shot and killed by police.
"He wasn't a bad guy. He was a human being," Pinette's aunt, Kimberly Bayles said. "He loved video games and his cat."
Pinette's aunt, Kimberly Bayles says he was autistic and struggled with his mental health. She says he was medication and seeking professional help.
"He feels emotions and things a lot different and he's very, he was very sensitive," Bayles said.
Bayles says she is mourning his death and still has a lot of questions about what led up to the shooting.
It all started early Wednesday morning when police say Pinette burglarized Dedge's Lock and Key on Lenox Avenue. This is a business his family owns and where he used to work. The police report says Pinette smashed the front door, went inside, took a firearm from a desk in the back office, fired a few shots and left.
Pinette's grandfather says he then came to his home and fired multiple shots at cars in the driveway. Pinette didn't go inside the home.
Then, Wednesday afternoon, the police report says while armed with a gun, Pinette threatened a man who was gardening.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and SWAT Team surrounded the Summerwind Apartment Complex at 5262 Timuquana Road, where Pinette lived. Police could be heard calling out for him. The report says he shot at officers. JSO says he was armed with a knife and gun. Officers fired back, killing Pinette.
"He wasn't going to kill anybody because if he was going to he would have done it. It was definitely, I think, a suicide mission for himself because he couldn't do it. That was really the only thing I believe in my heart," Bayles said.
Family members say Pinette was fired from his job about a month ago. They say he was bullied by co-workers. Bayles says Pinette felt like his life was over.
"Being bullied and harassed and tortured like that, mentally, that has a lot of impact on somebody, especially in his state of mind," Bayles said. "When somebody was to mess with him and keep on making him feel like a certain type of way, he would go into a depression."
Pinette was arrested in 2022 on battery charges. Bayles says she wished his family could have spoken to him before he was shot and killed.
"While they were on the bullhorn trying to talk him down or whatever, they could have handed it over to his sister or his mom. They could help try to defuse the situation and I think one of us being able to say something out loud to him might have helped," Bayles said.
Three officers were involved in the shooting. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating. The State Attorney's Office is conducting its own investigation.