The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday identified the St. Petersburg police officer who fatally shot a man who officials said threatened officers with a knife during a mental health episode Sunday.
Jordan Sisti, 34, was the officer who fired, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Sisti joined the police department in 2014.
The incident occurred about 11:30 a.m. Sunday at a home in the 100 block of Pershing Street Northeast, which is in or near the Edgemoor area in the northeast part of the city.
The sheriff’s office identified the man who was killed as Kasey Sedlock, 37.
Police responded to the home after Sedlock’s brother called 911 to say he was attempting suicide and acting erratically. The brother was able to get a knife away from him, but by the time officers arrived, Sedlock again had a knife, Pinellas County Sheriff Gualtieri said at a news conference Sunday.
Officers entered the home and saw Sedlock at the end of a hallway, where he told officers to shoot him while he had the knife, the sheriff said.
Gualtieri said officers tried to de-escalate the situation and used a Taser on Sedlock, causing him to fall into his bedroom and drop the knife, which was about 4 inches long with a serrated blade. Still telling officers to shoot him, he reached for the knife and was shocked with a Taser again. He got ahold of the knife and began to get up off the floor, Gualtieri said.
Fearing officers were in peril, Sisti fired four times. Sedlock was taken to HCA Florida Northside Hospital and pronounced dead at about 12:20 p.m., Gualtieri said.
The Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force is investigating. The unit was created so that officers involved in lethal force aren’t investigated by their own agency.
A state law that took effect Wednesday prevents law enforcement agencies from releasing the names of officers involved in deadly shootings for 72 hours.
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office identified three other officers who were involved in the shooting: Daniel Poveda, 44; Ryan O’Shaughnessy, 24; and Michael Kirchgraber, 38. Poveda joined the police department in 2007, and Kirchgraber in 2009. O’Shaughnessy was hired on Feb. 23.
Gualtieri said Sunday it appears officers did all they could to prevent a shooting from occurring.
“I guess some people would characterize this as the typical suicide-by-cop,” he said.
“It’s sad, but a cop’s got to go home safe — and they got to make a decision.
“No law enforcement officer wants to do what this officer had to do today.”
Times staff writer Emily Wunderlich contributed to this report.
