BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The state attorney’s office for Brevard County announced on Tuesday it is not filing charges against a Melbourne police officer and Florida Tech security guard who fatally shot at a student after he lunged at an officer with a pair of scissors in December.
According to a police report, Alhaji Sow, 18, was shot and killed after running around the Florida Institute of Technology campus with a knife and ultimately, lunging at officers with a pair of scissors.
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The state attorney’s office said “evidence and testimony provided by the FDLE held sufficient evidence to believe that the officers were acting in self-defense, a legal justification for the use of deadly force.”
Melbourne police said everything started when Sow got into a fight with a friend. He then ran around campus with a knife while punching students, vandalized cars and broke a residence hall window, police said.
At one point, Sow dropped the knife and when authorities found him in a dorm, police said he was holding a pair of scissors. Police said he then lunged at an officer and struck the officer in the leg. Melbourne police said one officer and a campus security officer shot at Sow, killing him.
According to the state attorney’s office, “witness testimony indicates that Mr. Sow ingested multiple doses of LSD, a powerful hallucinogenic drug, prior to the series of campus attacks on other students. Mr. Sow’s roommate told investigators that he witnessed Mr. Sow ‘tripping’ on psychedelic drugs at least once a week prior to this event.”
Read the full letter below:
Archer MPD FIT Letter by News 6 WKMG-TV on Scribd
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