- February 11, 2026
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies safely de-escalated a days-long series of incidents involving a man who was in a severe mental health crisis. Deputies ultimately secured the man without force after he briefly pointed what appeared to be a handgun at deputies.
This series of incidents began Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, when Keith McCabe, 55, of Palm Coast repeatedly contacted 911 and the non-emergency line, making paranoid and erratic statements. He demanded a large law enforcement response to his house on Clearview Court North but refused to cooperate after deputies arrived. Deputies located McCabe in his front yard, where he was in a loud, verbal altercation with someone who did not exist. McCabe exhibited extreme paranoia, stating deputies were there to shoot his poodle and they were going to cause him to have a heart attack.
Deputies have responded several times in prior years for calls for service involving ongoing neighborhood disputes and reports of erratic behavior by McCabe. Neighbors have expressed ongoing concerns about the escalating nature of his paranoid behavior.
On the morning of Feb. 8, deputies again responded and ultimately arrested McCabe after he continuously called 911 making nonsensical accusations and erratic, paranoid statements. He continued to make incoherent claims to 911 operators that his mother was being held hostage, that a delivery driver had stolen his nonlethal handgun, that he will die of a heart attack before the sun comes up, and to send SWAT and a helicopter. In the last week, McCabe placed 15 calls to 911 and 23 calls to the non-emergency line from two different phone numbers.
Deputies arrested McCabe for obstruction without violence, and additional information was forwarded for review by the State Attorney’s Office regarding misuse of the 911 system. At the time, he did not meet the criteria for involuntary evaluation under the Baker Act.
Deputies transported McCabe to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. He was released that evening on a $500 bond.
Five hours after being released he called the non-emergency number to complain about being arrested and requested to speak to a supervisor. Deputies and a supervisor responded, however, McCabe did not wish to speak to them. Instead, he went inside and called 911. In this call, he requested state police, FBI, and the governor’s mansion.
The situation escalated on Monday, Feb. 9, when deputies responded again after neighbors observed McCabe acting erratic, screaming, and appearing to speak to people who were not present. Deputies went to McCabe’s door to speak with him.
As deputies asked him to exit the residence, McCabe briefly walked back into the house. McCabe then returned to the entryway pointing what appeared to be a black handgun at deputies. As deputies drew their firearms, McCabe immediately dropped the item and ran back into the home.
After half an hour of continued communication and de-escalation efforts, deputies were able to get him to sit in the rear lanai area. While speaking with deputies, McCabe continuously made paranoid and erratic statements and expressed suicidal intentions, then jumped into a pool. Deputies entered the lanai and issued verbal commands, after which McCabe exited the pool. Deputies ultimately secured him in handcuffs.
The item McCabe pointed was later determined to be a Byrna SD Kinetic Launcher, which is a .68 caliber, C02 cannister powered air pistol. Dubbed “THE UN-GUN” by its manufacturer because it “looks like a gun, performs like a gun, but designed to be non-lethal.” McCabe later told deputies he had not slept in several days. His family stated that he has no diagnosis of mental health illness or history of drug use.
“This is exactly why we invest so much time in training de-escalation and crisis response,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “Our deputies stayed patient, created time, used their rapport, and kept communicating until they could safely take him into custody. This situation could have quickly escalated to a deputy involved shooting but because of their training it did not. I'm very proud of our deputies for deescalating this incident and safely taking him into custody.”
