Amazon driver shoots man he says came at him with knife in Middletown

Suspect fled but was found and taken to hospital.

A man was shot early Sunday morning by an Amazon delivery person when he apparently pulled a knife on the driver, according to Middletown police.

The incident happened shortly before 5 a.m. in the 4500 block of Central Avenue. The delivery man said a man “came out of nowhere with a knife and moved toward him,” said Sgt. Earl Nelson. That is when the delivery driver shot the man in the leg.

“The Amazon guy was delivering packages, a man came out of nowhere waiving a knife — we think strung out on meth. The Amazon driver fired and hit him in the leg,” the sergeant said.

Nelson said the man who was shot fled the area and was eventually found by officers then transported Atrium Medical Center for treatment.

At about 5 p.m. Sunday, officers received a call for the area of Rosedale Road and Magnolia Drive involving the same man who had been shot. He walked out of the hospital without permission and was acting strangely, according to the police report.

Witnesses said the man was trying to get in the sewers.

When officers arrived, the man was gone, but officers continued to search the area, finding a walkway through the tree line toward a creekbank.

The man was found in the creek “flailing in the water underneath a log,” according to the report.

Initially, the man complied with orders from officers but said ‘Nope, not doing that’ when the officer attempted to handcuff him,” according to the report.

“At that time he raised up, spitting, and threw his left hand toward my face. At that time I moved out of the way, using his right hand to re-direct him, and (he) brought his fist up again to throw another punch,” according to the officer.

There was a tussle and the officer deployed a Taser, hitting the man several times before he complied with orders, according to the police.

The man was transported to the hospital where he underwent surgery for the gunshot wound.

Nelson said the entire incident remains under investigation. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday.

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