Keys deputy kills 15-year-old girl after she pointed gun at cop, sheriff’s office says
A Florida Keys deputy shot and killed an emotionally troubled 15-year-old girl in Stock Island early Monday morning, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office said the girl was suicidal and stole the gun, broke off a lock on the weapon and walked to “a remote location on Stock Island,” near Key West. As deputies tried to “deescalate the situation,” the girl pointed the weapon at them, and one of them opened fire, spokesman Adam Linhardt said.
Deputies immediately began rendering aid and called paramedics, Linhardt said. She was taken to Lower Keys Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, he said.
The sheriff’s office did not release the girl’s name as of Monday afternoon. The call came in around 5:20 a.m., Linhardt said.
“This incident is a tragedy for everyone involved,” Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement. “While the Deputy appears to have acted in self-defense, I have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an independent investigation to ensure transparency.”
Ramsay told the Herald that three of his deputies responded to the scene and found the girl holding the loaded .9 millimeter to her head. He said they tried to talk her into putting the weapon down for several minutes before she pointed at one of the deputies.
One of the deputies then opened fire, striking her.
Ramsey said the officer fired to protect his fellow officer.
“They weren’t yelling. They weren’t screaming. They were very friendly, telling her to think of her family and telling her she had her whole life ahead of her,” Ramsey said.
Ramsay declined to say how many shots were fired, citing the FDLE investigation. The deputy who shot the girl is “on administrative leave with pay at this time,” he added.
The girl had a history of mental health issues and had expressed suicidal thoughts in the past, according to Ramsay..
The father’s gun had a lock that consisted of a cable the went through the barrel and ejection mechanism, which is designed to prevent it from firing.
The girl broke it off using a hammer, Ramsay said.
Shooting by Keys deputy in 2022
Ramsay said his deputies receive extensive and regular training dealing with people going through mental health crises, including attending regular classes on deescalation.
A deputy firing his or her weapon in the Keys is a rare occasion. Solid data on Monroe County deputy-involved shootings was not immediately available, but, according to the Miami Herald’s archive, the last time a Monroe deputy killed someone was in August 2022.
In that case, a pilot who was also a federally deputized Homeland Security agent, pointed a semiautomatic rifle at deputies when they arrived at his Key Largo home after receiving calls of an armed, intoxicated and suicidal man.
Deputies shot him when he continued to ignore warnings to put the gun down, according to the sheriff’s office.
“You can have all the training and tools in the world to try to deescalate the situation and have a positive outcome, but, you just can’t always control the behavior of people dealing with a mental health crisis,” Ramsay said.
