EAGLE LAKE, Fla. (WFLA) — An investigation is underway after a Polk County deputy shot a suspect who was beating his wife on Saturday morning, according to officials.
Around 6:50 a.m., the 61-year-old victim told dispatchers she was being “violently beaten” by her husband, identified as 52-year-old Charles Franklin Edwards. The operator said she could hear the man beating the woman as she begged for help.
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When a Deputy Sheriff responded to the couple’s Eagle Lake home, he said he could hear the victim screaming for help.
The deputy, Christopher Johnston, entered the home to find Edwards armed with a large hammer. Johnston demanded him to drop the weapon. When Edwards ignored him, the deputy deployed his taser.
Edwards pulled out the taser probes and charged at Deputy Sheriff Johnston, with the hammer raised, trying to strike him.
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Polk County Sheriff’s Office -
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Johnston was forced to shoot the suspect, who was hit at least two times.