MELBOURNE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has concluded that no criminal charges will be filed against a Melbourne police officer or FIT security officer involved in the shooting death of a Florida Institute of Technology student in December. 


What You Need To Know

  • No charges filed against Melbourne police officer 

  • A student with a knife was shot to death in a confrontation with police on Dec. 3, 2021

  • Police said the student had confronted other students with a knife 

  • FIT identified the 18-year-old FIT student as Alhaji M. Sow of Riverdale, Ga. 

Authorities said they received a call about an man armed with a knife, chasing students on campus. 

Police and FIT security confronted the 18-year-old student identified as Alhaji M. Sow, who they said lunged at them. 

The officers then fired at Sow, officials said, who died from his injuries. 

School officials said Sow was a sophomore at FIT majoring in aeronautical science.

Student Matthew Hanvey said he was shocked by the incident. 

"Sometimes I’m out late at night doing stuff, like playing basketball or walking around skateboarding," Hanvey said. "I never thought of an issue where I’d ever get injured. So I was very surprised.”

Officials said the police officer has been with the Melbourne department for over five years and was assigned to the patrol division at the time of the incident. The officer has since been placed on administrative leave until the outcome of the investigation. The Melbourne Police Department will now begin an administrative review of the incident as it remains under an administrative investigation.