Vero Beach Fl.-Sunday, March 27, 2022: Indian River County Sheriffs fatally shot a disturbed man who was threatening them with a pair of scissors inside the Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. The Sheriff called it another example of the mental health crisis in the state of Florida.
It was coincidence that 2 Indian River County SWAT Team members, a Sheriff Detective and a Patrol Deputy were all inside the emergency room at the hospital Saturday night. They were there on separate cases when, about 10:30 pm, a 29 year old man rose from the gurney he was lying on, grabbed a pair of large scissors, and ran through the ER threatening patients and staff.
During a Sunday news conference Sheriff Eric Flowers said the 4 of the Deputies responded responded. “As they close in on him, he turns, raises the scissors up above his head, our deputies begin to retreat back, they draw their weapons, and 2 of the deputies fire shooting and killing this man. The entire incident from when they see him and he is on the ground is 5 seconds.”
The dead man has been identified as Zachary Taylor Anderson. He was being held at the hospital under the Baker Act which allows for the involuntary institutionalization and examination of a person suspected of mental illness. He had attempted to hang himself, and he had multiple lacerations on his arms and legs where he’d cut himself.
"Nobody wants to take a life, but in this incidence they were so close to him and he was charging at them with these sharp scissors, that they had no choice but to do what they did," said Sheriff Flowers. "I believe that they prevented further tragedy. This man was definitely intent to either commit suicide by cop or hurt somebody inside of the hospital.”
Anderson had been lying on the gurney in the hallway of the Emergency Room because all the rooms were full with other patients. He’d been there for a day and a half after being rejected admission to another institution. “The fact that we were up there for taking people in for suicidal incidents, that they had multiple Baker Act patients awaiting transportation to a facility because there is not enough beds, the fact that this gentleman had been waiting there for a day and a half, shows what kind of a mental health we’re in right now,” said the Sheriff.
It was the second shooting of a suspect by Indian River County Sheriff Deputies within 72 hours, following the Thursday shooting and wounding of the mosque murder suspect in the Vero Beach Sam’s Club parking lot. That suspect has been identified as Ahmed Raslan. He remains in stable condition, under guard, at the Lawnwood hospital in Fort Pierce. He is reportedly cooperating with law enforcement.