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A federal agent armed with an AR-15 rifle and intoxicated was shot and killed Wednesday by Monroe County Police in Key Largo —one of the islets in the southernmost tip of Florida— during an altercation, according to reports from the authorities.
The deceased was identified as Lane Morgan Caviness, 48, and was a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer off-duty at the time of the shooting.
According to Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay’s report, detectives and police patrols responded to a 911 emergency call from a woman at Key Largo Ocean Resort.
Upon arrival, they found Caviness “intoxicated,” authorities commented.
The sheriff noted, “Caviness went out onto a balcony with a gun and dropped it when ordered.”
Ramsay added that the federal agent warned that he was “prepared to confront law enforcement.”
Ramsay added that a “few minutes later, Caviness came out on the balcony again, but this time he was armed with an AR-15 rifle.”
The sheriff noted that at that point, police officers had no choice but to engage him. He added that four of his officers, detectives, and deputies shot him with firearms.
The officers then handcuffed Caviness and called fire rescue personnel, who pronounced him dead at the scene, Local 10 television reported.
The sheriff said that, as is always done in such cases, he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
