Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony shot and killed a man when he was a teenager living in a poor urban neighborhood in Philadelphia, according to records and interviews with family members of the dead man.
Tony, 41, kept the May 3, 1993 killing secret for years. But after being asked about it by Florida Bulldog, had this to say on Saturday:
“When I was 14 years old, growing up in a neighborhood in Philadelphia filled with violence and gang activity, I shot an armed man in self-defense. The juvenile authorities reviewed my actions and cleared my name,” Tony wrote in an email. “This was the most difficult and painful experience of my life and I have never spoken of it publicly. I worked every day from that time forward to leave the violence that surrounded me in Philadelphia behind.”
Tony’s account, however, is disputed by the dead man’s girlfriend, who said he was apparently unarmed and that the shooting was prompted by an argument.
