PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy shot a knife-wielding suspect who was threatening to kill his mother and then himself Tuesday night at a home near Delray Beach, a spokeswoman for the department said.
The deputy-involved shooting took place sometime after 9:30 p.m. in the 5300 block of Madison Road.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said deputies were responding to a 911 call about an armed man attempting to commit suicide. She said when deputies arrived, the man, later identified as Nitin Mathew, 35, was threatening to stab his mother and then kill himself.
As deputies were speaking with Mathew, at some point, he grabbed his mother and threatened her with a knife, Barbera said.
That's when one of the deputies opened fire, shooting Mathew in the shoulder and the mother in the elbow.
Both were taken to a hospital, but their injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Barbera said Mathew faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and false imprisonment.
She said the deputy who fired the gun has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is department policy.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is the lead investigative agency in the shooting.
Mathew was being held without bond Wednesday at the main Palm Beach County jail.
