The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office has provided more information about today’s deputy-involved shooting. Around 4:07 p.m. today, dispatch received a call about people burning a pile of debris next to the Bay Blossom Drive at the intersection of US 98 in Sebring. Fire-Rescue was dispatched to the scene. Due to the suspicious nature of the incident, law enforcement was also asked to respond.

Fire-Rescue units were the first to reach the scene. HCSO said they were confronted by 39-year-old Richard Myron Ham. When two Highlands County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, they reportedly found Ham armed with two metal rods. He allegedly refused to follow the orders of the deputies before a taser was deployed.

The taser did not seem to have an impact on Ham who pulled the probes from his body and rearmed himself with one of the bars. Ham allegedly swung the bar and struck a deputy in the head. At 4:22 p.m., an officer fired at Ham who was pronounced deceased following the shooting.

The injured deputy was treated at the hospital and released. Authorities say the initial investigation determined that Ham and 30-year-old Lakenya Phillips were burning the possessions of Phillips’ 9-year-old son because they thought he was possessed by a demon. Witnesses said that Ham put the child into the fire and covered him with a blanket that was also on fire.

The child was able to escape serious injury. Phillips and her son were listed as missing and endangered out of Wichita, Kansas on December 6. Multiple firearms and drugs were recovered from the vehicle driven by Ham and Phillips at the time, according to authorities. Police say Ham’s criminal history includes convictions for armed felonies and drug possession with multiple arrests in Arkansas, South Carolina, and Georgia.