Deputy who shot machetewielding man identified
Authorities have identified Martin County sheriff ’s deputy John Welliever as the deputy who shot and killed a machete-wielding man Friday night.
Welliever shot 47-year-old Jerry Richardson of Indiantown five times, killing the man at about 11:30 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Charleston Street.
Sheriff William Snyder previously said the deputy has not been involved in incidents where he fired his gun. Welliever was hired by the sheriff ’s department in December 2003.
On Monday, Snyder said the facts as he knows them “gives me reason to believe the deputy was acting in self-defense.” The state attorney’s office is investigating the shooting.
Richardson reportedly had a machete strapped to his body.
Deputies had at least one prior violent encounter with Richardson before his death, according to Snyder. In early September, Richardson reportedly rushed a uniformed sergeant in an “unprovoked attack” and ended up pushing the officer into his patrol car hard enough to cause a dent.
Richardson was hospitalized under the Baker Act but not charged as deputies on scene believed the attack was the result of a mental health issue, Snyder said.
Welliever is assigned to court security but had volunteered the day of the shooting for road patrol because of a staffing shortage, Snyder said.
The last shooting involving a Martin County deputy took place Jan. 23 when Horace Brown was shot during a drug investigation at the Courtyard Marriott hotel in the 7600 block of Southwest Lost River Road. Brown sustained nonlife-threatening injuries.