Attorney Clears Officer in Shooting Death of Ax-Wielding Man

A St. Petersburg police officer shot and killed an ax-wielding man in downtown St. Petersburg in September after the man charged at the officer with the ax. 

Tuesday, Pinellas Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe released a letter clearing Officer Damien Schmidt for the shooting death of Kenneth Sprankle.

"As a result of this investigation, I have determined that Officer Damien Schmidt was in the lawful performance of his legal duties when he confronted Kenneth Sprankle wielding a large ax on the sidewalk," McCabe wrote in the letter. "Officer Schmidt justifiably believed his life and the lives of several citizens were in danger of death or great bodily harm and was authorize dot sue deadly force."

According to the original police report, on Sept. 23 police received a call about a man running and yelling at a group of four or five people with an ax on Central Avenue at 4th Street.

Police said Schmidt approached the scene as Sprankle, yelling indiscernible words, began approaching Schmidt.

Sprankle, police said, received warning from Schmidt to stop but once he got within seven feet of Schmidt with the ax Sprankle was shot.

According to McCabe's letter and the police report, Sprankle had a history of mental health issues and had been taken into custody on the Baker Act on several occasions. 

This fact was troubling for McCabe. 

"While I find that Officer Damien Schmidt was justified in the use of deadly force in this situation, I am concerned that the mental health community that Kenneth Sprankle was in contact with the week preceding this incident failed to recognize the extent to which Kenneth Sprankle was mentally ill, and a danger to himself or others," McCabe wrote in his letter.