St. Pete Police Cleared in Suicidal Man's Shooting Death

State Attorney Bernie McCabe has cleared two St. Petersburg Police officers in the shooting death of 43-year-old Arthur Dixon.

The Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's letter to Police Chief Chuck Harmon was made public Wednesday afternoon. (The complete letter is attached as a pdf to this article.)

McCabe wrote that "the shooting was justifiable homicide pursuant to Florida Statute 776.012." He also said that the shooting underscores the need for police to have crisis intervention training for handling similar situations in the future.

Dixon was shot to death by St. Petersburg Police Officers Devin Jones and
Curtis Wright on March 11, after he threatened them with a pair of scissors outside his house, at 5411 4th Ave. North.

Dixon, who was threatening suicide, also had poured gasoline on himself and in his house.

His actions had prompted his mother to contact the police, because she was concerned he would kill himself by burning down the house, according to the letter. His mother had described her adult son has having a history of mental illness.

Although both officers carried tasers, they were instructed not to use them because of the gasoline on Dixon's clothes, which could ignite a fire. The men discharged their firearms when Dixon walked toward them and was roughly 4-5 feet away.

The letter also notes that tests later showed that Dixon was intoxicated, with blood-alcohol levels nearly three times the legal limit.

The St. Petersburg Police Department's Internal Affairs Division is still conducting an administrative investigation to determine if there were any violations of department policy in this case.

Harmon will convene a Shooting Review Board once the Internal Affairs' investigation is complete and will release a memorandum at that time with his review and findings.

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