JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a police officer shot and killed a man who was repeatedly ordered to put down a small ax, according to T.K. Waters, the chief of investigations.
Waters said police were first sent to a residence on Morse Avenue just before 4 a.m. in response to a call “regarding a mentally ill individual.” He said officers came out but were not able to locate the man. After leaving the scene, they came back around 11:30 a.m. following another call from neighbors.
“This time, the neighbors were saying that he was vandalizing their houses in the area,” Waters said.
According to the chief of investigations, officers found the 43-year-old man in a wooded area, where they attempted to make contact with him. He was identified as Kevin Mahan.
“One of our officers at that point walked through through a wooded area of a small field where he saw the subject standing behind some woods holding a hatchet, a small ax,” Waters said. “He (the officer) announced ‘put the hatchet down.’ They announced three more times, ‘put the ax down.’”
Waters said the man stood up, raised the ax and that the officer fired one shot, striking and killing the man at the scene. No officers were injured.
According to Waters, Mahan had prior arrests, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a drug arrest, a felony traffic arrest and a robbery arrest. Records show in 2013, Mahan was sentenced to three years in prison after he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In 1998, Mahan was convicted on two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted armed robbery.
Court records also show that back in December 2021, an officer was used a Taser on Mahan while trying to arrest him. The arrest came after a driver told police that Mahan tried to carjack him and verbally threatened to kill him at a Gate gas station on 103rd Street. Mahan pleaded no contest to resisting arrest and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
News4JAX attempted to speak with Mahan’s family. They did not wish to comment.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office no longer identifies officers involved in a shooting. A court ruling granted officers confidentiality under Marsy’s Law.
The state attorney’s office was sent to the scene to conduct an independent investigation. The officer who was involved was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following a shooting that involves police.