Attorneys: Man shot by deputy was in mental health crisis

GROTTOES, Va. — A Virginia public defender’s office says a man who was recently fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time.

The News Leader reports the Staunton Public Defender’s Office released a statement Saturday about the fatal shooting a day earlier of Jeffrey J. Bruce.

The statement says the office had been “working with Mr. Bruce and his family to find help for his struggles with mental health and addiction.”

Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting in Augusta County.

The agency has said it took place after Bruce charged toward a deputy with a knife.

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