JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man was shot and killed by a Jacksonville officer Wednesday after holding his ex-girlfriend hostage, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
The shooting took place near Patton Park on the Southside, near the 2700 Copper Springs Road.
The woman was inside the back bedroom of the home and could not exit without passing the man. He was "always known to be armed with a knife; he had threatened her before with a knife, and a gun."
A friend was alerted to the situation and told police. The woman was able to be safely removed from the scene through a bathroom window.
Police called SWAT to the scene, and they attempted to make contact with the man. He threw items at police and appeared to still be armed with a knife, police said.
He then fled the scene through several homes. Officers unleashed a K-9, and the man appeared to be about to stab the dog, police said.
He was then fatally shot, police said.
He is presumed to have entered through a garage door which police say he disabled so that it could not lock, and he would be able to get in.
The man was a convicted felon and had several warrants for charges involving this woman. He was reportedly terrorizing the woman for months, reports the Florida Times-Union.
Police say there were calls to service involving conflict between him and the ex-girlfriend since December 2022.
The woman had tried to end the relationship and move "in secret," but the man was able to pursue her after he hacked into her email account and found evidence of where she was living, police said.
In December, there was a domestic battery incident between the two, police said. In the same month, the man was accused of an armed burglary at the woman's home in Jacksonville Beach.
In February, he was accused of aggravated assault on the woman and grand theft.
In March, he was charged with another burglary related to the situation.