PBSO IDs man, 20, whom deputy shot, killed during confrontation near Lake Worth Beach

LAKE WORTH BEACH – A 20-year-old man who'd left jail 11 days earlier is the person shot and killed by two Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies Tuesday night near Lake Worth Beach after he lunged with them at a knife, PBSO said Wednesday.

PBSO says Ryan Fallo had carjacked an Uber driver in Broward County, then confronted deputies in a neighborhood just north of Lake Worth Road and east of Florida's Turnpike.

In video PBSO posted on its Twitter page from a late-night news conference at the scene of the shooting, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said deputies tried to put distance between themselves and the man to "de-escalate the situation, but it did not de-escalate.

"In fact, it rapidly moved to the point where the individual came toward the deputies, at which time they had to fire their weapons and take the action that they took," Bradshaw said.

Larry Fallo, Ryan's father, still has questions.

"I'd like to find out why he'd get shot dead for holding a knife," the elder Fallo told The Palm Beach Post on Wednesday evening. "Were they that scared that they had to shoot him dead?"

Fallo said he asked deputies those questions when they came to his home to tell him what had happened to his son.

"We're all broken up over here," Fallo said, his voice heavy.

"He was a good boy and a good heart," Fallo said. "He didn't deserve to die."

He said he didn't know a lot about Ryan's alleged act of carjacking. But, he said, "Whatever it was, it didn't warrant the death penalty."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office will investigate the fatal shooting, the first involving a PBSO deputy since one in Palm Beach Gardens in May 2019. A PBSO officer also was involved in a nonfatal shooting in January.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office said an Uber driver reported his car had been taken in Pompano Beach and that he had been stabbed just before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

It did not provide the model of the car or the driver's identity. It also did not describe his injuries but said they were not considered life-threatening. A spokesperson for Uber said the company had been in touch with the driver and was "grateful he is doing OK."

BSO said its deputies were able to track the vehicle and alert PBSO. Deputies spotted the car near Lake Worth Road and Military Trail and stopped it on the 3900 block of Silver Maple Drive.

Fallo stepped out, armed with a knife, and refused to drop it before coming at the deputies, sparking the shootings, PBSO said. Deputies gave him first aid until paramedics arrived. He was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where he died.

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While deputies don't yet have body cameras, Bradshaw said dashboard cameras and a neighbor's cellphone captured Tuesday night's confrontation. The agency did not make the video public Wednesday.

"It's unfortunate. We've had some incidences over the past 30 days where we've encountered people with knives and guns, and we've been able to de-escalate it, and talk them down," Bradshaw said at the news conference.

"This was one of those situations where the individual just was not going to be talked to."

PBSO said the two deputies, who are on administrative leave with pay, were the only ones involved in the confrontation. The agency did not identify them Wednesday or release their dates of hires, their current assignments or their histories with the agency.

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Fallo lived about 3 miles west of where he was shot, according to his Palm Beach County Jail entry in a July 22 arrest on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. The person involved said the confrontation began when the person had asked Fallo to take his medications. He left jail the same day on his own recognizance, but with supervision.

On Oct. 16, court records show, Fallo entered a "plea and pass" agreement. It allowed him to plead guilty with the understanding that charges would be dismissed if he met several conditions, including enrolling in anger-management classes, undergoing a mental-health evaluation and staying away from any drugs that weren't prescribed.

If he failed to meet conditions over a nine-month period, he instead would be placed on probation for a year. Any violation of the probation could mean up to a year in jail.

On Oct. 14, Fallo was jailed again for failing to appear in court, thus violating the conditions of his release. He left jail early on Oct. 17.

Records show no other cases for Fallo.

Tuesday's shooting was at least the fourth this year involving law enforcement officers that either took place in Palm Beach County or that touched agencies based there.

On Sept. 8, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Horlkins Saget shot and killed a man who fired a gun at him off Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach following a chase on Interstate 95.

On Feb. 5, Detective Jemel Headings, of the Riviera Beach Police Department, fatally shot a gunman who had taken the life of FHP Trooper Joseph Bullock at an Interstate 95 rest stop near Palm City in Martin County.

On Jan. 31, Secret Service agents and PBSO officers fired at an SUV that had breached two security checkpoints near Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's mansion in Palm Beach.

Staff writer Hannah Winston and staff researcher Melanie Mena contributed to this story.