UPDATE:
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday the name of the deputy involved in the fatal shooting that occurred Oct. 27 in Indiantown was Deputy John Welliever.
EARLIER STORY
The deputy involved in a deadly shooting in Martin County Friday night has not made a formal statement, but Martin County Sheriff Snyder said that's not unusual when a deputy uses deadly force.
At the advice of his attorney, the deputy, who has not been named, has decided to hold off making any official statements about what happened until he has had time to process the events.
Family, friends and neighbors of 46-year-old Jerry Richardson want to know what led to him being shot five times and killed by a deputy Friday night and so do investigators.
"We do not have any more sense now of what happened than we did that evening, because we don't have the involved deputy's statements yet," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
The sheriff said he held off naming the deputy, identified Wednesay as John Welliever, to allow him time to prepare for the the scrutiny that comes with the investigation. He has been with the sheriff's office for 14 years.
Welliever was assigned to court services, but on Friday night, he was taking on an extra shift and told dispatch he would be on foot patrol near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Charleston Street in Indiantown.
"He had some fairly substantial scratches to hsi throat and moving down would have been just below his vest as if he was grabbed," said Snyder.
It's unclear what happened between the deputy and Richardson, who investigators say had a 23-inch machete strapped to his wrist. Just last month, the sheriff said Richardson pushed a deputy into his car and was involved in a physical struggle with deputies. He was baker acted.
Welliever had no suspensions and had been on road patrol deputy for nine years before going back to being a court deputy last year.
The sheriff said until investigators speak with the deputy, they don't know if he knew about Richardson's prior run-ins with other deputies.
There is no video of the shooting because sheriff's deputies do not have body cameras and only traffic unit patrol cars have dash cams. The sheriff is asking anyone who may have seen something or even recorded the shooting, come forward.
He will be meeting with family and other community members at a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at Bible Teachers International Church in Indiantown.