Two Pinellas deputies were forced to shoot a man who failed to adhere to warnings to stop advancing toward them with a knife in Dunedin.
Michael Case, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene outside his home at the Oak Bend Mobile Home Park, 801 Main St., the sheriff’s office said.
The deputies, Jose Berrios-Collazo, 31, and Peter Eigo, 54, are now on paid administrative leave. This is routine during the investigation of a deputy-involved shooting. Police say they are not injured.
Detectives say they initially responded to the mobile home park around 10:44 p.m. Monday and spoke to a female who said everything was okay. They proceeded to check the area to make sure it was secure and left.
But then Tuesday, Berrios-Collazo and Eigo returned to the same location at 12:16 a.m. Tuesday in regards to an armed man threatening to harm himself. When they arrived, Case was inside lot 32 with a knife.
According to the sheriff’s office, one deputy entered and case started coming toward him with the knife. The deputy retreated and commanded him to drop it.
The other deputy stayed outside and saw what was going on. Both of them commanded Case to back off and he did not. “Feeling threatended,” the deputies opened fire.
This is the second fatal shooting in the Tampa area in the past two days. Police in Citrus county opened fire on a woman who pointed a stun gun at them whilst on a disturbance call in Inverness Sunday.
Berrios-Collazo has been with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office since June 2012. Eigo was hired in September 1987.
An investigation continues.
