PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A 19-year-old man was shot by Palm Beach County deputies after they say he charged at them with a machete during a domestic disturbance call in the Palm Lakes Estates community near Riviera Beach.
Investigators say Andre Mayard walked outside a home and retrieved what deputies described as a "strategically placed" foot-and-a-half-long machete from hedges before raising it above his head and approaching officers aggressively, according to Chief Deputy Robert Allen with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
"He immediately raised it above his head and began approaching the deputies in a fairly aggressive manner," Allen said.
Deputies repeatedly told Mayard to put down the weapon, but he refused to comply, Allen explained.
"Until they finally had no other recourse but to stop his aggressive actions by firing on him," Allen said.
Mayard was taken to a hospital following the shooting. His current condition is critical.
Richard Morris, a retired deputy police chief, said the deputies' response was justified given the circumstances.
"The police officer has seconds to react — do I live or do I die," Morris said.
Morris noted that officers say they attempted to retreat before using deadly force.
"A machete is a very violent weapon and the fact that it was planted ahead of time makes it more calculated and scary," Morris said.
Morris explained why deputies couldn't use less lethal options in this situation.
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"Police officers have seconds to decide life or death. You know, everybody always goes, you know, why didn't they use a taser? You can't use a taser because, again, if the taser fails, you never meet non-lethal force with lethal force," Morris said.
This marks the sixth officer-involved shooting WPTV's Kayla McDermott has reported on in our viewing area this year. In every case, law enforcement said they were attacked or charged at by a suspect.
According to the Police Brutality Center, Florida ranked third in the country for states with the most officer-involved shootings in 2024. The state recorded 82 deaths, with the majority of shootings occurring in South Florida and primarily related to domestic disturbances.
Morris said these statistics align with national trends and suggested deeper investigation into the root causes of these incidents.
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"I think we're at a point now with these police shootings that the coroner's office is going to have to start doing autopsies and see what the drug content was, what you know, what? What was the true cause? A lot of them are going to be drug-induced. A lot of them, the ones that aren't drug-induced, we're going to find out that the person's probably had a long history going all the way back to his school days of mental health issues. That's where the system is failing is, they don't turn around and address the problem," Morris said.
"Florida officers, I'm actually shocked the rates aren't higher because of the amount of contact officers have with people with mental illness," Morris said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office believes only one deputy fired during the incident, but further investigation is needed to confirm this detail. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is actively investigating the shooting.
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