PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — The Putnam County Sheriff's Office held a news conference Monday afternoon following the fatal deputy-involved shooting of a 31-year-old man Saturday morning.
Putnam County Sheriff Gator DeLoach called the incident a "tragedy for everybody involved."
Phillip Allen Baldwin was shot multiple times at 12:48 a.m. after threatening to shoot deputies, the sheriff's office said in a news release. After being shot, deputies performed CPR on him; he was taken to HCA Putnam Hospital where he died.
At 11:33 p.m. Friday, a woman on Shell Harbour Road in Satsuma called 911, "screaming for help and referenced a carjacking," the release states. In the news conference, DeLoach said the carjacking was an armed one involving Baldwin.
“I never saw anything like this," said Pjeter Kqyra, who's property was damaged during the carjacking. "The guy was going crazy.”
Kqyra woke up during the commotion, and found out the next morning his surveillance camera had been cut, mailbox was knocked over and a powerpole in his yard was broken.
“Still, my wife is shaking, and I’m nervous," Kqyra said. "What’s going on?”
DeLoach says a witness helped confirm Baldwin was involved in the carjacking.
As deputies were investigating the incident, a second call came through to the sheriff's office about an hour later, reporting a disturbance in the 300 block of North 2nd Street in which Baldwin was "threatening others with a gun," according to DeLoach.
During the news conference, DeLoach said deputies "tried repeatedly to gain his [Baldwin's] compliance and get him to surrender," after bodycam footage of deputies arriving on North 2nd Street was played. The sheriff added that Baldwin exhibited "violent behavior."
"I will shoot you in your f---ing face, you understand me?" one deputy said in the footage.
"Shoot me!" Baldwin shouted at deputies three times.
Deputies then asked Baldwin to turn around four times, to which he then retreated into woods. DeLoach said deputies attempted to tase Baldwin before fatally shooting him, but he told First Coast News tasers are only about 60% effective at a range of 15 feet or less and that Baldwin displayed a 9mm firearm.
Three deputies were involved in the shooting, as they are all on administrative leave per sheriff's office policy, according to DeLoach. The sheriff said it's been seven years since the sheriff's office has had its last deputy-involved shooting, which happened in Crescent City in 2017.
DeLoach said Baldwin had "a significant criminal history with us" and that there are still "many unanswered questions." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates all officer-involved shooting, as the investigation into this one is ongoing.