An FBI agent who shot and killed a veteran at MacDill Air Force Base in May properly used deadly force, according to an agency review.
An FBI shooting incident review group concluded the agent who shot Ronald J. Bullock on May 19 "operated within the scope of the FBI's deadly force policy and did not violate any state or federal laws," according to the FBI.
The agent, who the FBI has not named, was assisting base police with Bullock's arrest when the shooting took place.
"The evidence reviewed determined Mr. Bullock was armed with a knife, charged the FBI agent and ignored repeated commands to surrender his weapon," according to the FBI. "The agent involved in the incident feared for his life, and in accordance with his training, fired in self-defense, resulting in Mr. Bullock's death."
The investigation was led by the FBI and also involved the Tampa Police Department, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Air Force Security Forces.
The incident at MacDill was not the first time Bullock had threatened law enforcement.
In 1994, Bullock was armed with a meat cleaver and tried to attack police in Austin, Texas, said Austin police Cpl. Scott Perry, who was there that night. Bullock was later convicted of aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
After Bullock was killed at MacDill, his uncle, Phil Sullivan, described Bullock as a happy-go-lucky veteran who served in Vietnam and was "100 percent disabled" with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sullivan said he had no idea what happened at MacDill, where, according to the FBI, Bullock was involved in a dispute before speeding away on a motorcycle and, after ditching the vehicle, walking toward the off-duty FBI agent with a knife.
"This is a total shock," Sullivan said.
He said that the disabled Bullock had lived at MacDill Air Force Base for six months, then at Sullivan's home on Pearl Avenue for a month before returning to MacDill's FamCamp recreational and camping area, where he was living at the time of the incident.
Bullock served in Vietnam as a dog handler and received a couple of Purple Heart medals, Sullivan said. He said Bullock used to drink but had been sober for at least 10 years.
Bullock, who served four years' probation on the assault charge in Texas, was also arrested in 1997 and charged with possession of a controlled substance, for which he was convicted and served 18 months in the Texas state prison system, according to records.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
