Sheriff: Florida man slain by deputies carried assault rifle

A Florida man with an assault rifle was fatally shot by officers after he attacked his wife and daughter, authorizes said.

Shannon Jason Cables was killed by deputies responding to a domestic violence call at his Lake Wales home on Saturday, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Sheriff Grady Judd told the Lakeland Ledger newspaper that Cables first attacked his wife with Mace and a pool cue.

Then, Cable’s daughter came to her mother’s defense.

“That’s when the 19-year-old actually jumped on the suspect and wrestled and choked him,” Judd said. He said the pair managed to get away, and Cables fled into some woods behind the house.

The women took refuge at a neighbor’s home and called police.

Deputies searched the woods with police dogs and a helicopter for two hours while the women received medical care. When the women returned home with law enforcement, deputies spotted Cables carrying an assault rifle and a shotgun coming up behind the house, Judd said.

The sheriff’s office says they ordered Cables, a 46-year-old white man, to drop the weapon, but he pointed it at deputies instead, so they shot him. The deputies’ races were not released.

Judd told the newspaper that investigators found shells from Cables’ assault rifle outside, indicating he fired the weapon. No deputies were injured.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the sheriff’s office are investigating, and the four deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave.