Florida Man Accused Of Stabbing Mother Killed By Deputies After He Opens Fire At Them

Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida shot and killed a man accused of stabbing his mother after he opened fire at them.

According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies, after receiving reports of a fatal shooting, responded to a home in the unincorporated area of the county in southeast Winter Haven on Wednesday (June 10) morning.

“When (deputies) arrived we saw the lady that was stabbed in the chest,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told local media. “We learned that it was her son who later retreated from the main house back into his apartment, which was in the horse stables.”

The man was identified as 36-year-old Phillip Dibenedetto.

According to Judd, Dibenedetto asked his mother where she kept the coffee in the house, and when she turned around to point out, he stabbed her in the chest. Dibenedetto later confessed to the deputies that he was aiming for her throat but missed and instead stabbed her in the chest.

The woman managed to escape the scene and ran next door and called 911. According to Judd, the woman pulled the knife out of her chest. The deputies searched for Dibenedetto and located him inside his apartment.

“Our deputies go over to the location where (he) is located. They have a key. They unlock his apartment, they shove the door open and there he is,” Judd said. “And he’s screaming and hollering ‘Kill me. Kill me. Kill me'."

The sheriff said deputies tried to calm him down and get him to exit the apartment, but he instead began to retreat farther inside the home.

“(Deputies) said no less than 50 times over the next 20 or so minutes while they were trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender,” Judd said. “He made statements such as, ‘I meant to stab my mother in the throat. But I was a little low and I stabbed her in the chest. I bought the Glock 19 handgun last week to do this. Today’s the day I die. Shoot me here shoot me in my heart.’”

According to Judd, Dibenedetto told the deputies he had his handgun hidden in his recliner. The deputies tased him when he approached the recliner. When he recovered, he reached for his gun and shot at the deputies who returned fire. Dibenedetto was pronounced dead at the scene.

“He clearly, clearly indicated and said over 50 times ‘you all kill me, you all kill me, I’ve been planning this.’ He told us ‘I bought this gun last week to do this.’ So he had a plan,” Judd said. “We shot him multiple times. We shot him enough that he didn’t shoot back anymore.”

No deputies were injured during the incident. Dibenedetto’s mother was rushed to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. No updates were available about her current condition.

“That’s how dangerous this job turns to be every day,” Judd said. “Our deputies are simply the best trained, and they did everything they could to deescalate, to safely take him into custody after he attempted to murder his mom in a premeditated fashion that he confessed to during the negotiation,” he added.

According to Judd, Dibenedetto had a mental health problem that was documented in the early 2000s.