Orange County sheriff's bodycam shows man fatally shot when charging at deputies with a knife
By: The Orange County Sheriff's Office released body-worn camera footage Thursday from a deputy-involved shooting earlier this month that shows a man appear to charge at deputies with a knife.
On Feb. 6, deputies were called to a home in the 4700 block of Davisson Avenue in Orlando with regard to a man who was harming himself with a knife. The 911 caller initially said a man inside the house had killed himself, but then was heard screaming.
"He's screaming in there. So, he didn't kill himself. He didn't kill himself," the caller is heard saying on the 911 audio released by the sheriff's office on Thursday.
Two deputies arrived in separate patrol cars and briefly spoke with the 911 caller, who told deputies that the man, identified as 43-year-old Decarlos Cornelius Long, was inside the house. Bodycam footage shows the deputies approaching the front lawn of the house, and Long is seen running out of his home with a knife in his hand.
Both deputies fired their weapons at the man, who fell to the ground with the knife still within reach.
"Deputies needed to secure the knife before Orange County Fire Rescue, which was already present, could safely enter the scene," the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. "Both deputies approached Mr. Long, and deputy #2 kicked the large kitchen knife a safe distance away."
The knife was described as a stainless steel kitchen knife. It was covered in blood.
Long was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. Neither deputy was hurt in the incident.
"He came out of that house to harm those deputies, and in my opinion, they really had no other choice," Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at the time of the shooting. "He was extremely agitated, holding a very large knife, and it happened in the blink of an eye."
Mina said that deputies have responded to the home at least 16 times over the last year for various calls, including arguments and other disturbances. The sheriff added that Long likely has a history of "mental health issues."
An investigating into the shooting is still underway.