In addition to his involvement in carjacking and threatening individuals with a pistol, the 31-year-old man was shot and killed by Putnam County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Saturday morning, the agency said.
The sheriff’s office released a news release stating that at 12:48 a.m., armed Phillip Allen Baldwin was shot numerous times after threatening to shoot deputies.
Within an hour, dispatchers got two calls regarding Baldwin. A woman on Satsuma’s Shell Harbor Road called at 11:33 p.m. on Friday, “screaming for help and referenced a carjacking,” according to the release.
Living on Shell Harbor Road, Pjeter Kqyra claims he heard the disturbance when he woke up.
He claimed that when going outside in the morning, he discovered that the power cord of his security camera was severed, his mailbox had been flipped over, and the electricity pole in front of his residence had been twisted.
“Still, my wife is shaking, and I’m nervous about what’s going on,” Kqyra stated. “I don’t know where we’re going to go like this.”
Around 12:36 a.m., officials learned of a disturbance in Satsuma’s 300 block of North Second Street as deputies were responding to the report. A caller reported seeing an armed man threatening people, according to the release. Baldwin was recognized by onlookers as the man brandishing a gun.
Baldwin “made a gesture of reaching for the firearm in his waistband and exposing the firearm,” according to deputies, who then opened fire. Deputies hit him many times before starting CPR. After being brought to HCA Putnam Hospital, he passed away.
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Every shooting incident involving an officer is looked at by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. By sheriff’s office rules, the three deputies in question are on administrative leave.
According to the department, this is the first Putnam County shooting involving an officer since 2017. The inquiry is still on.
The agency stated that body camera footage is presently being reviewed. A press conference is scheduled to take place at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Monday at 1:30 p.m.
