Deputy shoots knife-wielding man in Boynton Beach

By Yasmine Julmisse & Jade Jarvis

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    PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is on the scene of a deputy-involved shooting Monday morning. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is also on scene and said he believes the case is an attempt at ‘suicide by cop.’

PBSO says it happened at 9900 Military Trail and Boynton Beach Boulevard on the northwest side of the intersection outside of Firehouse Subs.

PBSO responded to the scene around 6:30 a.m. due to a suspicious person call.

When they arrived, they found a man holding two knives. Officials say he then charged at deputies.

That man has now been identified as 20-year-old Denley Junior Alexis.

“He stands up and he’s got two knives, big ones, seven-inch blades. First thing they do is tell him, ‘Drop the knives, we want to talk to you for a minute.’ And he starts edging towards them a little bit. They tell him again, ‘Drop the knives.’ All of a sudden he decides to charge the two deputies, coming right at them with the two knives,” Bradshaw said.

One of the deputies fired his weapon three times, hitting the man twice. Bradshaw said the other deputy immediately ran to administer first aid.

Bradshaw said this appears to be an attempt at ‘suicide by cop.’

“He did say to one of the deputies while there were loading him in the fire medic’s rig, ‘You know, you guys didn’t do your job.’ And the deputy said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He says, ‘I’m still alive.’ We went back and checked on this guy, he tried to kill himself in March, survived that so obviously, he’s got some mental health issues. And I think this was a prime example of suicide by cop. That’s what they wanted,” Bradshaw said.

The man was taken to Delray Medical Center where he was treated, released to deputies, and questioned.

PBSO said during the interview Denley admitted to calling 911 himself and admitted he charged deputies with the knives in hopes they would shoot him.

He is now one count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of resisting arrest with violence.

Bradshaw said his deputies did the right thing, and that he believes the shooting was justified.

“The guy was coming at him to stab him with two knives. He wasn’t going over to hug him and say, ‘Have a nice day!’” Bradshaw said.

This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.

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