Authorities said the man refused repeated commands to drop a butcher knife during an encounter outside a shopping plaza.
HUDSON, FL — A Pasco County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man armed with a butcher knife outside a Hudson shopping plaza Friday after authorities said he refused repeated commands to put down the weapon.
Deputies responded at about 12:28 p.m. Oct. 2 to a trespassing call in the Little Road area involving a man who was reportedly yelling and making threats, according to Col. Jeff Harrington, chief of staff for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Deputies located the man about 12 minutes later near the north end of the plaza, behind a gas station. Authorities said the encounter ended with a deputy opening fire after attempts to verbally de-escalate the situation failed.
The Sheriff’s Office said the man was holding a butcher knife with a blade measuring about 7.5 inches. Authorities said a deputy repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife before firing. The agency said the man did not comply with the commands. Harrington said the presence of other people in the shopping center was an important concern for deputies as the confrontation unfolded.
Authorities provided emergency medical treatment after the shooting. The man was pronounced dead following the encounter. Initial reports differed on whether he died at the scene or after being taken for medical care, and the Sheriff’s Office had not immediately clarified that discrepancy in the reports reviewed for this story.
The Sheriff’s Office released a short portion of body-worn camera footage from the encounter. The video captured a deputy repeatedly ordering the man to drop the knife before shots were fired. The footage provides only a brief view of the confrontation and does not by itself establish all of the circumstances that investigators will examine as part of the review.
Authorities initially withheld the man’s identity while relatives were being notified. Later reporting identified him as 49-year-old Brandon Whitworth, but that identification was not consistent across all reports available after the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office said the man had been arrested 18 previous times in Pasco County and had 11 felony convictions. His prior record does not determine whether the deputy’s use of force in Friday’s encounter was legally justified.
Harrington said the man did not attack the deputies before the shooting. He said deputies were concerned about the knife and the safety of people nearby. The circumstances leading up to the gunfire, including the man’s movements and the deputy’s assessment of the threat, are expected to be central issues in the investigation.
The deputy who fired has been placed on paid administrative leave under agency policy. Such an assignment is an administrative step while authorities review a law enforcement shooting and does not by itself indicate wrongdoing by the deputy.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office is also expected to review the case, according to reports on the incident. Investigators will have access to evidence that includes body-camera footage and information gathered at the scene as they determine the circumstances surrounding the use of deadly force.
The Sheriff’s Office said the shooting presented no continuing threat to the public. The investigation remained ongoing, and authorities had not announced a final determination on whether the deputy’s use of force was justified.
Author note: Last updated October 4, 2026.