LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) -- A man armed with garden shears was fatally shot by Polk County deputies on Monday, minutes after surviving an apparent alligator attack.

Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies began searching for Timothy Schulz, 42, just before 6 a.m. after a convenience store clerk reported he was acting erratically. Deputies searched for around 40 minutes, but couldn't find him.

Residents of a nearby neighborhood called the sheriff's office to report a man swimming in an alligator-infested lake. A witness tried to throw him a life preserver and another witness reported Schulz growling at them when they tried to help.

Witnesses told deputies an alligator was spotted close to him as he swam across the lake.

Schulz emerged from the lake with an apparent alligator bite and began w

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