Jacksonville police shoot knife-wielding man with history of mental health issues

Jacksonville police shot a knife-wielding man who had been seen stabbing himself and then came at them with the knife raised Saturday afternoon in San Marco, according to the Sheriff's Office.

It was the first local police shooting of the year, and the last one on Dec. 27 at Summerwind Apartments on Timuquana Road also involved a man with mental health issues.

Jimmy Lamar Riggs, 49, was shot three times in the legs after the first of two arriving officers engaged him simultaneously when he wouldn't respond to commands and kept coming at them, Chief Alan Parker said. One used his Taser and the other fired his pistol.

Riggs also had apparent self-inflicted wounds to his stomach and was in critical condition but is expected to recover, Parker said.

It happened about 2:15 p.m. at Atlantic Boulevard and Belote Place, where police were told a suspicious man was walking around waving a knife and possibly stabbing himself.

Parker said initially officers were unable to locate the man. But they found him after circling the block and being flagged down by a witness. He was sitting in a yard in the shade on Belote just south of Atlantic. Riggs immediately stood up as the officers pulled into the intersection and started advancing toward them with the knife.

"As he's coming toward them, he's got a large knife in his right hand," the chief said. "He raises it up above his head. And he's coming toward them and they're giving him commands 'drop the knife, get on the ground, stop.' He keeps coming."

That's when they engaged him coming out onto Atlantic Boulevard, Parker said. He fell to the ground but still wasn't quite cooperating. They continued to give him commands and were able to handcuff him and kick the knife away.

Parker emphasized that the officers "gave him multiple commands and he chose not to obey for whatever reason."

He said Riggs has been involuntarily institutionalized three times under the state's Baker Act for people with mental health concerns. Riggs has now been absentee-booked on two charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

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Parker said Officer J.A. Veale fired the gunshots. He has been with the Sheriff's Office for seven years, and this was his first officer-involved shooting. Officer J.N. Easterly deployed the Taser. He has been with the Sheriff's Office for 23 years, Parker said.

Three people had been shot by Jacksonville police at this time last year, all killed, according to Times-Union records. For the year, 13 people were shot by Jacksonville police including nine fatally.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville police shoot man officers say came at them with a knife