A homeless man was shot by Florida Atlantic University campus police Friday morning after he threatened them with a knife at the school’s Boca Raton campus, police said.
The man, whose identity was not released but police described as being a homeless man in his 20s or 30s, was taken to Delray Medical Center, the Palm Beach Post reports. His condition is unknown.
FAU officers arrived at the scene around 10:15 a.m. and saw the man was armed with a knife, police say. At some point they apparently felt threatened and shot the man. No one else was on the roof besides the man and the officers.
Boca Raton police were then called to come to the scene. Boca Raton police and the state’s attorney’s office will investigate the incident.
“Officers were presented with what we believed to be a threat, and they dealt with that threat,” said Boca Raton Police Chief Dan Alexander.
Employees of a business in the complex said they heard running around on the roof but assumed they were the air conditioning workers who had been on the roof of the one-story building the past couple days. But when they were told to stay in the building, they knew it was a more serious situation.
Police said they could not confirm whether the man had ties to the school or the community.
Police are still determining whether the officers involved will be put on paid administrative leave, said Officer Sandra Boonenberg, Boca Raton Police spokesperson.
The incident took place near the school’s Spanish River entrance on the north side of campus.
