Florida Man Fatally Shot After Alligator Attack and Confrontation with Deputies

In the early hours of Memorial Day, a man in Florida suffered a bite from an alligator while swimming across a lake. Despite the injury to his right arm, he exited the water, armed himself with garden shears, and entered a gated community, causing alarm among residents.

Within minutes, 42-year-old Timothy Schulz from Mulberry, Florida, was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies. Officials report that Schulz charged at them with the shears, resisted incapacitation attempts using a stun gun, and attempted to seize a firearm from a police vehicle.

The Polk County sheriff described the situation as extraordinary, noting that Schulz’s continued aggressive behavior after an alligator bite was astonishing and difficult to believe.

Authorities revealed that Schulz had exhibited unusual behavior starting at least two hours before the deadly encounter in Lakeland, Florida. This timeline was reconstructed through 911 calls and eyewitness accounts from neighborhood residents who tried to assist him in his final moments. The sheriff also disclosed that Schulz had an extensive criminal record, primarily involving multiple arrests related to methamphetamine.

The incident began before 6 a.m. when an employee at a RaceTrac gas station on Highway 37 reported a man displaying erratic behavior—trembling and requesting to call his son. Deputies arrived shortly after and conducted a search of the premises, but Schulz had already disappeared by 6:39 a.m.