INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A "heroic deputy" shot and killed a dangerous man who attacked him with a knife outside a RaceTrac gas station late Sunday night, the Indian River County sheriff said.
At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Sheriff Eric Flowers said the 44-year-old deputy responded to a call at a McDonald's, located in the 9400 block of 108th Avenue, north of Vero Beach, at approximately 10:45 p.m.
After clearing that call, the deputy heard a disturbance at a RaceTrac gas station across the street and drove over to investigate.
Flowers said that after the deputy pulled up to the gas station and got out of his vehicle, Jeffrey Lee Miller, 42, of Palm Bay, suddenly attacked the deputy with a knife.
In fear for his life, the deputy ran away from Miller and fired multiple shots, striking the knife-wielding man.
"The deputy takes off. Begins firing shots. As the guy is giving chase, he has the knife," Flowers said. "The guy is chasing after him with the knife. And that's when [the deputy] fires the shots. The man goes down."
Flowers said Miller had a lengthy criminal history, serving prison time in Florida for robbery, burglary, grand theft, and child abuse, along with multiple felony charges in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The sheriff said Miller and his wife lived in Palm Bay, but for unknown reasons drove south into Indian River County and stopped at the RaceTrac.
Flowers said the disturbance the deputy heard while at the McDonald's was Miller chasing several men around the parking lot of the RaceTrac with a knife.
"He had told his wife that we wanted to take out a Palm Bay cop," Flowers said. "He had been stabbing things. And he was trying to open the door and get out on 95 on the ride down. So he was seriously suffering from some major issues."
WATCH: Indian River County sheriff talks deputy-involved shooting
Flowers said the deputy was hired by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 8 of this year. Before that, he served three years with the Cocoa Police Department and three years with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
"Our deputy is a hero today because he did the right thing," Flowers said. "He protected himself and he potentially protected the lives of others."
The deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol when a law enforcement officer discharges his or her weapon.
This fatal shooting came just hours after a burglary suspect was killed and a Fort Pierce police officer was injured in a shooting early Sunday morning in the 1100 block of Bayshore Drive in Fort Pierce.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating that incident.
