Sarasota deputies fatally shoot man striking them with machete

A man who authorities said came at Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies with a machete was shot to death Thursday morning during a reported armed burglary in the 300 block of Richardson Way.

One of the deputies on the scene was severely injured in the machete attack, a statement from the Sheriff’s Office said. That deputy was hospitalized and was awaiting surgery later in the day.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a resident called 911 around 9:29 a.m. to report an intruder in his efficiency apartment, sharpening a large machete with a baseball bat. The resident fled without injury.

When deputies arrived, they entered the apartment and found the armed man inside. As the man advanced on the deputies, he struck one of them in the hand. Two other deputies fired, fatally wounding the man, who was declared dead at the scene.

The Sheriff’s Office described the machete as 19 inches long, with a 15-inch blade.

The identity of the man with the machete was still being ascertained, and police had not yet notified next of kin.