Deputies fatally shoot Florida man who survived apparent gator attack and tried to steal their gun, sheriff says

A Florida man who was apparently bitten while swimming in alligator-infested waters Monday morning was fatally shot after, officials said, he emerged from the lake and charged at sheriff's deputies with garden shears.

A Florida man who was apparently bitten while swimming in alligator-infested waters Monday morning was fatally shot after, officials said, he emerged from the lake and charged at sheriff's deputies with garden shears.

Two deputies, including a trainee, opened fire on Timothy Schulz, 42, after they deployed a stun gun that appeared to have no effect and after Schulz tried to remove a firearm from their patrol cruiser, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters.

“The fact that he was bitten by an alligator and still continued his rampage is shocking,” Judd said.

Authorities first responded to a call involving Schulz at 5:56 a.m., when he appeared at a racetrack shaking and asking to call his son, Judd said. Deputies who responded to the area could not find him, the sheriff said.

Nearly two hours later, a witness spotted Schulz in Lakeland, south of Orlando, and reported that the man was in a lake with “a lot” of alligators, Judd said.