ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orlando family is now planning the funeral services for their brother and son.
33-year-old Antonio Scippio was shot by Orange County deputies on Friday, Feb. 21st. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but he died days later.
“What is it like to be back home without him?” Channel 9′s Geovany Dias asked Gail Reed, Scippio’s mother. “It feels empty; it’s an empty nest,” she said.
Scippio lived with his mother. The woman showed her home around; bullet marks now scattered throughout her living room, under the table, on the wall, on the couch. “We will probably never heal from this,” said Reed. “I know I will never heal from this. Every time I step in, I see him lying there in a pool of blood. That was uncalled for.”
According to the sheriff’s office, law enforcement went to the scene for reports of a person who was threatening to kill himself with a knife.
“The man continued to walk towards the deputies with the knife, again, refusing several commands to drop the knife,” said Orange County Deputy John Mina during a press conference hours after the shooting happened. “It’s at that point our deputies discharged their service weapons and struck the man several times.”
The mother said Scippio had been diagnosed with multiple mental health conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
She believes his call for help was mishandled and now worries about other families. “If you have a mental health person in your household, do not call the police. Find a way to call a crisis line,” said Reed.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that their Behavioral Response Unit teams – which include deputies and clinicians- do not directly respond to calls when someone is armed.
OSCO also said nearly 1,000 deputies have completed a 40-hour crisis intervention training but did not disclose if the two deputies involved in this case had that training. “If they are not trained to handle a mentally ill person, if they are not trained, they should not come into my home or anybody’s home,” Reed said.
The deputies have been placed on administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates, which are standard steps taken when a law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting.
The mother is now planning to sue OSCO and vowed to push for mental health training as a requirement for Orange County deputies.
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