Winter Haven Fla. (970 WFLA)-A 20 year old former Florida State University student, with a history of mental illness, was shot and killed by Polk County Deputies Tuesday night.
According to Sheriff Grady Judd, since September of 2017, Chance Christopher Haegele had been Baker Acted numerous times, including by Florida State University Police, Tallahassee Police, and several times by the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Early Tuesday night the Polk County Sheriff's Office received a frantic call from a friend of Hagele's at FSU. He also sent to the sheriff's office a SnapChat picture Haegele posted, questioning why he should not kill himself, saying life is so boring.
Deputies went to Haegele's home in a mobile home park in Polk County and found Haegele hiding in the bushes. He came out, pointing a shotgun at the two deputies. He was told to drop the weapon, but continued to point it at the two deputies, they fired their weapons shooting 17 times, hitting Haegele several times. He died at the scene.
Sheriff Judd says at the end of the day this is a sad ending to a tragic set of circumstances. Judd said "this is a classic example of suicide by cop".
The two deputies were not injured.
Photo Credit:Polk County Sheriff's Office