MIAMI – A South Florida man is dead after the Broward Sheriff’s Office says a deputy was forced to shoot at the knife-wielding man who made threats, refused to drop his weapon, and then lunged at the deputy outside a North Lauderdale strip mall.

BSO officials state they received a 911 call around 9:15 Thursday night regarding a man with a knife, who was cutting himself and waving the knife around, inside a Ross Dress for Less store at 7300 West McNab Road.

The first deputy on scene encountered the man outside of the business.

According to BSO, the man began making threats toward himself and the deputy.

The deputy attempted to de-escalate the situation by communicating to the suspect to put down the knife and attempting to back away from the suspect. However, the suspect refused and instead ran toward the deputy.

The deputy then fired several rounds, hitting the man.

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said the deputy was defending himself.

“I can tell you that an individual armed with a knife we do not train individual deputies to respond with a lesser use of force. A taser is a lesser use of force. In that case, a knife is deadly force,” Tony said.

The man was taken to Broward Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

No other injuries were reported.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

As per BSO policy, the deputy will be placed on administrative assignment pending further investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.