Officers fire 7 shots, killing man with gun

Westside man told Jacksonville 911 operator he wanted to kill others, himself

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police said a man who called 911 to say, "Send the SWAT team, I want to get killed," was shot seven times by officers Tuesday afternoon.  According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, 59-year-old Michael Keys died at the scene.

At a Wednesday morning news conference, JSO Chief Adam Brown said dispatchers received a call at 5:05 p.m. from a man at MacGregor Drive who told dispatchers he wanted to kill himself and others, and that he had handguns and rifles in his residence.

Police responded to the area, set up a perimeter and attempted to make contact with the suspect, Brown said.  Officers saw the man go inside and come back out of the house armed with a handgun. One of the officers saw the handgun and said over the radio, "He's got a gun," Brown explained.

When the man refused commands to drop the weapon (pictured in JSO photo, below) and instead turned toward the officers and began to raise the gun, two officers fired a total of seven shots from two AR-15 rifles.

"He chose to go inside, come out armed with the handgun and then raised it toward the police. I absolutely think that it was his choice to escalate the conflict," Brown said.

Sgt. Tony Batrous and Officer Kenon Samuel each fired at the suspect, killing him. No officers were injured in the incident.

Batrous, a 12-year veteran, fired five shots, and Samuel, a four-year veteran, fired two shots, Brown said. This is the first officer-involved shooting for Samuel and the second for Batrous.

During a search after the shooting, officers found a SKS assault rifle on a couch inside the residence, but Brown said no one else was in the home.

JSO is still investigating the incident.

Neighbor Mike Summersill, who lives just a few doors down from where the shooting took place, said the suspect, whose name has not been released, lost his wife to cancer a while ago and battled an alcohol addiction. Summersill said it wasn't uncommon to hear gunshots coming from the home.

"Just every now and again, he'd shoot a pistol down there," Summersill said. "You know, especially on the holidays... stuff like that."

This is the seventh police shooting of 2014. Four, including this one, were fatal. Seven shootings matches the total number of police shootings in 2013.