Sheriff says two deputies fired six rounds after a Taser failed as the suspect advanced with a brick on Saturn Street.
LAKELAND, Fla. — A deputy-involved shooting Wednesday afternoon left a 41-year-old man dead after authorities say he beat an elderly neighbor with a brick and then charged at responding Polk County deputies on Saturn Street. No deputies were injured, and the man was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The incident is drawing a multiagency review by the 10th Judicial Circuit’s Officer-Involved Deadly Incident Task Force, which took over the investigation within hours. Sheriff Grady Judd identified the man as Kentae Govan and said the confrontation began with a 911 call about an assault in progress shortly after 3 p.m. Deputies arrived to find an injured elderly man and a second victim who had intervened. The sheriff said a Taser deployment failed before two deputies fired a total of six shots when Govan ran toward them carrying the same brick used in the attack. He was taken to Lakeland Regional Health, where he died.
According to the sheriff, the initial call reported that an elderly man was being struck in the head with a brick outside a home on the 1900 block of Saturn Street. A woman tried to break up the attack and was chased into a shed, where she was beaten and had her phone taken when she said she would call 911. When deputies arrived, they ordered the suspect to drop the brick; he refused and advanced. “Our deputies came here to save [the elderly man’s] life,” Judd said at an evening briefing, adding that a Taser “did no good” before gunfire ended the confrontation. Witnesses told investigators the suspect had said repeatedly he would not go back to prison and that deputies would have to kill him.
Judd said two of the three deputies on scene fired six rounds as the suspect charged. Deputies immediately provided aid, and Polk Fire Rescue transported the suspect to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The sheriff said the elderly victim remained hospitalized Wednesday night; the extent of his injuries was not immediately released. The woman who intervened was also injured. Investigators recovered a hand-sized piece of stone described as the brick used in the assault. Authorities said they did not yet know whether drugs played a role; toxicology results are pending, and officials said the motive for the initial attack remained unclear.
Govan was a registered sex offender who, according to the sheriff, had spent about 23 years in state prison across multiple sentences, including 16 years for sexually battering a child and later time for failing to register. He had been living in the neighborhood recently. Deputies said there was no argument preceding the assault; witnesses reported the men had been sitting on a porch when Govan became angry and attacked. At the evening briefing, Judd characterized the encounter as appearing to be “suicide by cop,” citing the suspect’s statements and rapid advance after refusing commands. Officials emphasized that determination would ultimately rest with investigators.
The 10th Judicial Circuit’s task force is leading the review, standard for deadly force incidents in Polk County. Detectives are gathering statements from witnesses and the involved deputies, mapping the scene on Saturn Street, and reviewing 911 recordings. Investigators will also analyze body-worn camera video and the Taser deployment to document timing and distances. The sheriff’s office said its findings will be turned over to the task force for independent review and to the state attorney for a charging decision, if any, regarding the deputies’ actions. Authorities did not immediately release the deputies’ names or years of service Wednesday night.
Polk County has seen several high-profile, deputy-involved shootings in recent years, all reviewed under the same task force process used Wednesday. Sheriff’s briefings typically follow within hours of major incidents, outlining preliminary facts and reiterating that full case files—ballistics, medical examiner’s findings, and toxicology—take weeks. In similar cases, deputies are often placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome, though the sheriff’s office did not immediately confirm personnel status in this incident. The neighborhood where Wednesday’s shooting occurred includes single-story homes and outbuildings; deputies cordoned off portions of the 1900 block of Saturn Street as crime scene technicians documented evidence through the evening.
As night fell, patrol cars and crime scene vans lined the street while investigators interviewed residents who heard the shots. Two witnesses who did not want their names used told deputies, according to the sheriff, that they saw the suspect come at law enforcement with a brick. “They both agreed the deputies ha