A Florida resident shot and killed a Turkish national on Thursday after deputies said they saw him reaching for a gun while they were serving him a warrant related to threats he had made against both a Tallahassee synagogue and public officials, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said.
Ali Bayhan, 38, was suspected of making threats against multiple elected officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and of calling in a bomb threat to Temple Israel in Tallahassee, the office told local media station WCJB.
Tallahassee police officials told local media that the synagogue received the non-credible bomb threat on Wednesday via phone call, determined to have been made by Bayhan.
In a statement released following the threat, the synagogue said that it had called law enforcement after evacuating the building.
“The threat, though later proven groundless, was taken seriously, handled following our emergency procedures, and resolved thoroughly and efficiently,” Temple Israel’s statement read.
“It is important to note that the threat contained neither antisemitic nor anti-Zionist content. All indications are that it came from a mentally troubled individual,” it added.
Suspect was flagged for involuntary mental health evaluation
Bayhan had posted notions on social media about destroying the temple, Fox News reported.
“Yeah, they suspended Tallahassee Temple Israel today. I will destroy it until they apologize and pay punishment, besides other things,” Bayhan had written in one of his posts.
The police attempted to serve Bayhan with a felony warrant on Thursday in Gainesville, but said that he reached for his gun, leading officers to fire their weapons, killing Bayhan.
Law enforcement said that Bayhan was not responding to their orders and that they had first attempted to deploy a police dog to detain him.
Alachua County courts had ordered Bayhan to receive an involuntary mental health evaluation following concerns his family expressed regarding his mental state.