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May 27 (UPI) — Deputies in central Florida fatally shot a man believed to be on drugs who allegedly charged at them after emerging from a lake where he appeared to have been attacked by an alligator.

The incident happened Monday morning in a gated community in Polk County.

The deceased has been identified as Timothy Schulz, 42. The county sheriff, Grady Judd, told reporters during a press conference that Schulz had a long criminal history related to methamphetamine and was most recently released from prison on May 20.

“He’s dead. Deader than four o’clock,” Judd said.

“I don’t know if this is a suicide by cop or a suicide by being absolutely out of your mind on methamphetamine.”

Two deputies, one a trainee, shot and killed a garden-shears-armed Schulz as he entered their running patrol car and allegedly tried to take either a rifle or shotgun from the vehicle, the sheriff said.

“This is one more example of how violent people are when they use meth and they use drugs,” he said.

Judd said law enforcement was first notified about Schulz by a local racetrack at 5:56 a.m. EDT, reporting there was a “bizarre” man on the premises who was “shaking” and asking to call his son.

About two hours later, a second witness called to report a White man seen swimming in an alligator-infested lake. One witness, Judd said, tried to give Schulz a life preserver, which he rejected.

A witness also reported seeing Schulz treading water in the lake near several alligators, one of which appeared to have bitten him on the arm.

He then emerged from the lake into a gated community, walked between houses and picked up a pair of garden shears. Deputies arrived on the scene as he was throwing a brick at the window of a vehicle.

Judd said the deputies repeatedly backed away from Schulz as they tried to get him to drop the shears. They then twice tased Schulz who attempted to enter the patrol car.

“He was trying to get to our rifle and or shotgun and we shot him. Now, quite frankly, his conduct was outrageous. It was bizarre,” Judd said.

“The fact that he was bitten by an alligator significantly and still continued his rampage is shocking.”

Judd used the press conference to warn others who may consider threatening deputies.

“Let me make this abundantly clear: You’re not going to shoot at our deputies, you’re not going to point guns at our deputies, you are not going to point garden sheers at our deputies, you’re not going to break into the car and try to get their rifles, you’re not going to assault feloniously our deputies — you’re just not going to do that. And if you do, we’re going to shoot you — just enough so you don’t want to do that ever again or can’t do that ever again,” he said.

Under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, England have delivered often thrilling cricket and secured landmark series wins away in Pakistan and New Zealand.

However, they failed to regain the Ashes in 2023, having gone 2-0 behind against Australia before surging back to draw the series, while they were also heavily beaten in India and lost in Pakistan last year.

After securing the series win in New Zealand in December, they lost the third and final Test in feeble fashion.

McCullum said he and his side wants England fans to feel an “attachment” to them, liking them both as players and their style of cricket, while also winning series.

“There’s no greater opportunity than playing in big series against the best opposition on the biggest stage under the brightest lights to be able to test that,” he added.

Stokes said he hated the word “ruthless” when asked about England trying to seal a 3-0 sweep in New Zealand.

But McCullum said the all-rounder is “the most ruthless” sportsperson he has ever met.

“He is unbelievably driven, to push himself, to push his team-mates, to win at all costs,” he said.

“We’re very lucky to have him in the chair because he’s going to be very strong about trying to push this team to the next level.”

Despite the obvious focus on the five-Test series against India and the Ashes down under, McCullum said England will not underestimate Zimbabwe in the four-day Test at Trent Bridge.

“We want to be where our feet are,” he said.

“This game has an amazing ability to bring you back down to earth if you don’t have the respect for the game or the respect for the opposition.

“We go into it as favourites so we need to make sure we’re rock hard fit and ready to go and make good decisions under pressure.”

Four days after India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire after a rapid escalation in a military conflict between them, key differences between their battlefield claims remain unresolved.

Among them is Pakistan’s assertion that it shot down five Indian fighter jets on May 7, the first day of fighting, in response to Indian attacks on its territory.

As a battle of narratives takes over from the actual fighting, Al Jazeera takes stock of what we know about that claim, and why, if true, it matters.

What happened?

Tensions between India and Pakistan erupted into military confrontation on May 7 after India bombed nine sites across six cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

India said it had struck what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in response to the deadly April 22 killings of tourists by suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir.

Gunmen on April 22 shot dead 25 male tourists and a local pony rider in the picturesque meadows of Pahalgam, triggering outrage and calls for revenge in India. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for supporting the fighters responsible for the attack, a charge Islamabad denied.

Pakistan said Indian forces on May 7 struck two cities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and four sites in the country’s largest province, Punjab. It said civilians were killed in the attacks. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh rejected the Pakistani claims, reiterating that Indian forces “struck only those who harmed our innocents”.

Over the next four days, the two nuclear-armed neighbours were engaged in tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, while unleashing drones into each other’s territories.

Amid fears of a nuclear exchange, top officials from the United States made calls to Indian and Pakistani officials to end the conflict.

On May 10, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington had successfully mediated a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Despite initial accusations of violations by both sides, the ceasefire has continued to hold so far.

Pakistan reported on Tuesday that Indian strikes killed at least 51 people, including 11 soldiers and several children, while India has said at least five military personnel and 16 civilians died.

What has Pakistan claimed?

Speaking to Al Jazeera shortly after the May 7 attacks, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad, in retaliation, had shot down five Indian jets, a drone, and many quadcopters.

Later in the day, Pakistan’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the warplanes had all been downed inside Indian territory, and aircraft from neither side crossed into the other’s territory during the attacks – an assertion India seconded.

“Neither India nor Pakistan had any need to send their own aircraft out of their own national airspace,” British defence analyst Michael Clarke told Al Jazeera.

“Their standoff weapons all had long enough ranges to reach their evident targets whilst flying in their own airspace,” Clarke, who is a visiting professor in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, added.

On Friday, Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed claimed that among the five downed aircraft were three Rafales, a MiG-29, and an Su-30, providing electronic signatures of the aircraft, in addition to the exact locations where the planes were hit.

The battle between Pakistani and Indian jets lasted for just over an hour, Ahmed, who is also the deputy chief of operations, told reporters.

He stated that the confrontation featured at least 60 Indian aircraft, among them 14 French-made Rafales, while Pakistan deployed 42 “hi-tech aircraft,” including American F-16s and Chinese JF-17s and J-10s.

What has been India’s response?

After Chinese state news outlet The Global Times wrote that Pakistan had brought down Indian fighter planes, India’s embassy in China described the report as “disinformation”.

However, beyond that, New Delhi has not formally confirmed or denied the reports.

Asked specifically whether Pakistan had managed to down Indian jets, India’s Director General of Air Operations AK Bharti avoided a direct answer.

“We are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of it,” he said. “As for details, at this time I would not like to comment on that as we are still in combat and give advantage to the adversary. All our pilots are back home.”

What else do we know?

Beyond the official accounts, local and international media outlets have reported different versions of Pakistan’s claims of downing the jets.

According to Indian security sources who spoke to Al Jazeera, three fighter jets crashed inside India-controlled territory.

They did not confirm which country the warplanes belonged to. However, with neither side suggesting that Pakistani planes crossed into Indian airspace, any debris in Indian-controlled territory likely comes from an Indian plane.

Reuters news agency also reported, citing four government sources in Indian-administered Kashmir, that three fighter jets crashed in the region. Reports in CNN said that at least two jets crashed, while a French source told the US outlet that at least one Rafale jet had been shot down.

Photos taken by AP news agency photo journalists showed debris of an aircraft in the Pulwama district in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Will both sides ever agree on what happened?

Defence analyst Clarke said if India has indeed lost a Rafale, that would certainly be “embarrassing”.

“If it came down inside Indian territory, which must be the case if one was destroyed, then India will want to keep it only as a rumour for as long as possible,” he added.

“India has said that “losses” are inevitable, and that is probably as near as they will get to admitting a specific aircraft loss for a while.”