Probe leader says officer who killed man used ‘only option’

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office chief of investigations said a veteran officer had no other option except deadly force to stop a mentally ill man coming at him with a large kitchen knife while threatening to kill police Saturday morning.

Officer Richard W. Futch, a 23-year Sheriff's Office veteran, shot to death Harold Eugene Kraai, 52, during a deadly 10-second encounter outside his home on the city's Northside. His family said had schizophrenia.

Chief Chris Butler said Futch defended himself against an armed suicidal man with a history of violent behavior.

“In my personal opinion, yes, lethal force was the only option,” Butler said Sunday after detailing the circumstances of the shooting.

It was the first fatal police shooting in Jacksonville this year. But it is similar to an unrealted 2016 case where Jacksonville police fatally shot another mentally ill man armed wielding multiple knives as he ran at them.

Butler said this was Futch's first officer-involved shooting. Under standard Sheriff's Office policy, Futch has been placed on paid administrative leave. The office of State Attorney Melissa Nelson is conducting an independent investigation of the shooting, which also is being reviewed by a Sheriff's Office Response to Resistance Review Board, he said.

Neither Futch nor his backup, Officer H. Lopez, was injured in the incident that began when Kraai's mother called police for help after became violent, Butler said. He said that violence included smashing out her car window during some kind of “a mental episode.”

Jacqueline Weaver said she called police because she needed help getting Kraai to a hospital. She never thought police would shoot him, Times-Union news partner First Coast News reported.

Kraai's uncle, Mark Sanchez told the Times-Union that police should have used a Taser to stop his nephew. Although Kraai was a large man — about 300 pounds and 6 feet 4 inches tall — a Taser would have dropped him to the ground, Sanchez said.

The family couldn't be reached for comment Sunday.

Butler said neither Futch nor Lopez were wearing body cameras. He wasn't aware of any independent witnesses to the shooting in a neighborhood near San Mateo Elementary School that residents described as normally quiet.

He said Kraai had a criminal history including aggravated battery, disorderly intoxication, battery, domestic violence battery, criminal mischief, trespassing and making threats. Kraai also had been committed involuntarily for psychiatric treatment under the state Baker Act several times, Butler said.