Desperate Florida Woman Asks Police to Help Her Suicidal Boyfriend
-They Tell Her to Leave Room Then Shoot Him Dead
- Justin Way, 28, was recovering alcoholic who relapsed after losing his job
- Girlfriend found him drunk, threatening suicide and called police for help
- Hoped he would be hospitalized but cops shot him dead with assault rifles
- Deputies claim he threatened them but Way's parents believe he was killed while lying in bed
Daily Mail UK, 29 May 2015
A woman called the police to ask for help with her suicidal boyfriend and they arrived armed with assault rifles, asked her to wait outside and then shot him dead.
Justin Way, 28, was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed after losing his job and when he threatened to harm himself, his partner Kaitlyn Lyons called for a non-emergency police number - hoping that he would be hospitalized.
In her panicked call, Ms Lyons asked an operator 'what do I do and who do I call?' before adding 'he recently lost his job... he's also been drinking'.
Shot dead: Justin Way, 28, was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed after losing his job.
He was shot dead by police after his girlfriend called a non-emergency number saying he was suicidal
Call for help: Kaitlyn Lyons called police on a non-emergency number because she feared her boyfriend Justin would kill himself.
Instead, cops showed up and ended up shooting him dead
Minutes later, two deputies from the St. John's County Sheriff's Office arrived, armed as if 'they were going into war', and told Ms Lyons to wait outside before storming into the property.
Before the call, Way had been lying in bed with a serrated knife while threatening to kill himself
After entering Way's bedroom, the police officers shot him in the chest and abdomen, allegedly before he could even sit up, his parents believe.
The officers, 26-year-old Jonas Carballosa and 32-year-old Kyle Braig, say they were attacked by Way while he was holding the knife and had no choice but to fire.
Way's parents claim Detective Mike Smith, who wrote a report on the incident, told them 'they told Justin to drop the knife and he didn't - so they shot him because "that's what we do".
Justin Way's mother Denise said Smith then told her about 'this new trend in law enforcement called suicide by cop' explaining it is when suicidal people provoke the police in an effort to end their own lives.
Police say Way attacked them with a knife and they had no choice but to open fire and kill him
She said Smith wouldn't tell her family where or how many times their son was shot.
Way's parents do not believe their son was a threat because they think he was shot while still lying in bed.
'If Justin was coming after them with a knife, at 6ft 4in, wouldn't there be blood splattered all over the room?' his father George Way said.
Way's parents brought their son's mattress to the curb after his death and his father believes there was a bullet dug out of the bed from a hole found in the middle of it.
He also said the blood was contained entirely within the mattress, and that it did not hit the walls or the floor.
He added: 'The only person Justin threatened was himself and I honestly don't think he wanted to die.'
When the officers arrived, Way's partner Ms Lyons said 'I thought they were going into war'.
One of the deputies involved in the shooting, Kyle Braig, fatally shot another man armed with a knife last December.
Quote:
The only person Justin threatened was himself and I honestly don't think he wanted to die.
George Way's father, Justin
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And a chilling Facebook comment once made by the other deputy, Jonas Carballosa, reads:
'Most people respect the badge. Everyone respects the gun.'
In a phone interview with Commander Chuck Mulligan of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, The Daily Beast asked if it was standard procedure to bring assault rifles, but not mental health professionals, to a scene where someone is suicidal.
'If the deputies feel that that is the appropriate weapon system to use, then yes,' said Mulligan.