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July 19, 2012 — Pomona Park

Three Putnam County sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic disturbance and found mentally ill Alfred Dobson, 35, who was mumbling incoherently.

Putnam SO

He wouldn't respond to police instruction to put his hands on a deputy's car.

Dobson's family said that he had recently been prescribed a new medication for schizophrenia and had been acting erratically and threatening to hurt a younger relative. They wanted him committed to custody under the Baker Act. Read more

Dobson turned physical, according to deputies. They deployed a Taser and struck him with a baton but could not subdue him.

Deputy Raymond Strickland, who had just joined the force after being dismissed from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office following an off-duty drunken rage, opened fire.

Seven of nine shots hit Dobson in the upper right back, left buttock, stomach, right and left forearms, upper right arm and a finger, the FDLE investigative report said. He died at the hospital.

A female bystander was also hit in the leg by gunshot "debris." Strickland was cleared by the sheriff, but he was fired in 2013 after an incident at a nightclub in which he "violated conduct standards by being belligerent, rude and misusing his badge while drinking," according to the Florida Times-Union.

This was the 80th police shooting in Florida in 2012.

One day earlier, one officer shot one person in Bradenton .

Three days later, four officers shot one person in Tampa .

5 ways this case compares to others

  1. Dobson did not immediately comply with police instruction, a factor in nearly a quarter of shootings.
  2. Dobson was shot after friends, family, or others called the police to ask for help in getting Dobson emergency mental health services. That’s a factor in 6 percent of cases.
  3. Dobson was one of 36 people shot in the back by police.
  4. Dobson was shot after resisting arrest. A total of 114 people were shot while resisting arrest.
  5. Dobson showed signs of mental instability. Almost a third of all shootings involved someone who appeared mentally unstable.

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