Jacksonville deputy kills armed man who 'wanted to die,' authorities say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man Saturday after the man ignored the deputy's repeated commands to drop his knife, authorities said.

The man told the deputy that he wanted to die, Chief Chris Butler, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said.

Deputies responded to a family disturbance call around 10 a.m. at a home on the north side of Jacksonville, Butler said.

"Family members told 911 operators that the person in the home was breaking things and damaged a car," Butler said.  "While police were responding to that call, the individual himself called 911 and told the operator that he no longer wanted to live."

When the deputy arrived at the home, the man was standing on the porch holding a knife, Butler said.

The deputy shot the man several times after he moved toward the deputy and would not drop his knife, Butler said.

Paramedics took the man to a local hospital, where he died of his wounds. He's described as a white man in his 40s, but the Sheriff's Office did not release his name.

Family members told local TV station WJXT that the man had suffered from mental illness.