DELRAY BEACH, FL — The welfare check was less than 24 hours old.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies had been to the same house on Jackson Road the day before, dispatched on a Baker Act order that never got served. When they returned on the afternoon of July 15, one of them opened fire on the tenant, striking him in his own back yard.
The tenant, 23-year-old Alexander Bucspun, is now charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The weapon he was holding, according to the affidavit, was a black long-barreled air gun.
The case is filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court as 50-2026-CF-005316-AXXX-MB. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the investigation of the shooting itself, according to a PBSO media advisory, and the deputy who fired has been placed on administrative leave with pay, which the agency described as standard protocol.
What the affidavit describes
The address is in the Country Club Acres 3 neighborhood in unincorporated Palm Beach County, an area with a Delray Beach mailing address west of Florida's Turnpike.
According to the affidavit, deputies were first dispatched to the residence on July 14 at about 5:19 p.m. on a Baker Act order signed by a doctor from South County Mental Health. Deputies tried to make contact with Bucspun but he refused to leave his room, the affidavit states. Without independent probable cause to articulate a Baker Act, deputies documented the incident under PBSO case number 26077288 and left.
As they were leaving, the affidavit says, Bucspun armed himself with a pair of scissors and stated he wanted to murder the deputies. That information was not relayed to the deputies who returned the next day, according to the affidavit.
At about 1:32 p.m. on July 15, PBSO deputies were dispatched again to the same address on a welfare check, the affidavit states. The caller told deputies Bucspun was not acting right and possibly was not taking his medication, and mentioned the prior day's response.
Deputies arrived at about 2:03 p.m., the affidavit says. Someone at the residence told them Bucspun was inside. The front door was locked, and the person walked three deputies around the north side of the house toward the back yard.
"As Deputies rounded the corner, Bucspun stood up with what was described as a black rifle, shouldered it and aimed it in the direction of" a civilian and the three deputies, the affidavit states.
Two deputies drew their firearms and took cover. A third deputy drew his firearm and fired, striking Bucspun, according to the affidavit. Bucspun was taken into custody and transported to Delray Medical Center.
What deputies said in sworn statements
The deputy who fired said he believed he did not have time to discharge his firearm before Bucspun raised the rifle, and that he fired because he was in fear for his life, according to the affidavit. Two other deputies gave sworn statements describing the same sequence and said they took cover in fear for their lives. Body-worn camera footage was reviewed and was consistent with the deputies' statements, the affidavit states.
After a residential search warrant, the "black rifle" was determined to be a black, long-barreled air gun, according to the affidavit. Investigators wrote that it was "consistent with the size and style of an authentic firearm and had no obvious insignia or markings indicating it was a toy or air gun."
Boca Post's earlier coverage of the incident was based on PBSO's initial media advisories, which described the weapon as a shotgun. The probable cause affidavit, filed the next day after a residential search warrant, identifies it as an air gun.
A civilian witness told investigators he had called law enforcement because Bucspun had been talking about killing his mother and behaving in an "abnormal, agitated" manner, according to the affidavit. That witness said he believed the rifle was a pellet gun because Bucspun did not own a firearm, but told investigators that "if someone points a gun at you, their intention is to shoot you," the affidavit states.
The three deputies were on duty in PBSO green uniforms with patches and star badges, and arrived in marked PBSO patrol vehicles, according to the affidavit.
Charges and case status
Detective Propst signed the probable cause affidavit, which was notarized by Sergeant Gomez. The affidavit states that investigators believe Bucspun intentionally threatened three deputies and one civilian by act with a deadly weapon while having the apparent ability to do so.
Bucspun is being held with no bond set on either charge, according to jail records. His cell location is listed as Delray Medical Hospital, and the booking sheet indicates a Baker Act hold, according to the arrest form.
At a July 16 hearing, a judge appointed the public defender and continued first appearance to July 20 at 10 a.m. because Bucspun was in hospital custody, according to the Palm Beach County Clerk's docket. Not-guilty pleas were entered on all four counts and arraignment was waived, docket entries show.
Charges are allegations and are not evidence of guilt. Bucspun is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
See Delray Beach arrest reports with the charges, bond amounts, and booking status listed by the sheriff's office.
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