Steve in PA
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Deadly force used after man with ax charged officer
A police officer shot and killed a Tallahassee man Saturday night after the man charged the officer with an ax, police said.
Louis Green, 45, died in the 2000 block of South Meridian after he was shot by Officer Russell Huston, said Stewart Clendinen, a spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department.
Green's father, Louis Green Sr., 81, said he didn't hear shots or anything else Saturday night.
"I heard (police) say that he came out from 'round the boat and came to about the center line where he fell," Green Sr. said Sunday evening, as he pointed to a small boat next to his home. "I checked my shed and my ax wasn't in there, and it isn't in there now. If I see the ax, I'll know if it's mine or not."
Police said Green called 911 at 11:17 p.m. to turn himself over to authorities for an outstanding cash purge warrant. This a relatively minor type of arrest warrant, and it usually relates to a failure to pay court costs, said Sgt. Steve Gauding.
Green told the 911 dispatch that he'd wait to meet police on South Meridian where his father lives. Huston drove to the address and parked across the street, police said.
After the officer got out of the car and walked toward the duplex, Green ran toward him with a raised ax and did not respond when ordered to put it down, police said. It is unclear how close Green was to Huston before the shooting happened, Gauding said.
Family friend Diane Copeland said Green - who she said had worked odd jobs, including a stint as a car mechanic - had been suffering with health and marriage problems. Green's father said his son had complained of "a spot on his lung."
"His marriage was going bad, and he might have been depressed. And he might have snapped, if it happened that way at all," Copeland said.
Green Sr. said his son had taken an overdose of pain killer medication last year and was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where his stomach was pumped.
"If he chased police with an ax, it's justified," he said. "But couldn't he have been shot in the legs to stop him?"
Clendinen responded that police officers are trained on how to use deadly force.
"They are trained not to kill but to stop, and that's what (Huston) did," he said. Huston is on paid administrative leave. Whenever a police officer shoots someone, he or she is placed on paid leave until a grand jury hears the case and makes a decision, he said.
The TPD homicide assault unit and TPD Internal Affairs are investigating the shooting. The forensics unit has examined evidence at the scene and taken some of it for further analysis. An autopsy will be performed by Monday or Tuesday, Clendinen said.
Green Sr. called his son "good, with a nice personality," and said he can't believe he would try to attack anyone.
"But you can never say ... you never know when a person might snap," he said.
A police officer shot and killed a Tallahassee man Saturday night after the man charged the officer with an ax, police said.
Louis Green, 45, died in the 2000 block of South Meridian after he was shot by Officer Russell Huston, said Stewart Clendinen, a spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department.
Green's father, Louis Green Sr., 81, said he didn't hear shots or anything else Saturday night.
"I heard (police) say that he came out from 'round the boat and came to about the center line where he fell," Green Sr. said Sunday evening, as he pointed to a small boat next to his home. "I checked my shed and my ax wasn't in there, and it isn't in there now. If I see the ax, I'll know if it's mine or not."
Police said Green called 911 at 11:17 p.m. to turn himself over to authorities for an outstanding cash purge warrant. This a relatively minor type of arrest warrant, and it usually relates to a failure to pay court costs, said Sgt. Steve Gauding.
Green told the 911 dispatch that he'd wait to meet police on South Meridian where his father lives. Huston drove to the address and parked across the street, police said.
After the officer got out of the car and walked toward the duplex, Green ran toward him with a raised ax and did not respond when ordered to put it down, police said. It is unclear how close Green was to Huston before the shooting happened, Gauding said.
Family friend Diane Copeland said Green - who she said had worked odd jobs, including a stint as a car mechanic - had been suffering with health and marriage problems. Green's father said his son had complained of "a spot on his lung."
"His marriage was going bad, and he might have been depressed. And he might have snapped, if it happened that way at all," Copeland said.
Green Sr. said his son had taken an overdose of pain killer medication last year and was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where his stomach was pumped.
"If he chased police with an ax, it's justified," he said. "But couldn't he have been shot in the legs to stop him?"
Clendinen responded that police officers are trained on how to use deadly force.
"They are trained not to kill but to stop, and that's what (Huston) did," he said. Huston is on paid administrative leave. Whenever a police officer shoots someone, he or she is placed on paid leave until a grand jury hears the case and makes a decision, he said.
The TPD homicide assault unit and TPD Internal Affairs are investigating the shooting. The forensics unit has examined evidence at the scene and taken some of it for further analysis. An autopsy will be performed by Monday or Tuesday, Clendinen said.
Green Sr. called his son "good, with a nice personality," and said he can't believe he would try to attack anyone.
"But you can never say ... you never know when a person might snap," he said.
