SPRING HILL, Fla. (WFLA) — Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said a knife-wielding suspect threatening patrons prompted a large law enforcement response at a Spring Hill gas station Saturday morning.

The sheriff said the incident was first reported at around 7 a.m., when police received reports of a man with a knife who was chasing people through the parking lot at the Mobil station on Spring Hill Drive.

When the first deputy arrived a few minutes later, the people being threatened had locked themselves inside the store, and he was able to locate the suspect at an Exxon station across the street.

Nienhuis said the man appeared to be on drugs and suffering from a "break with reality" and that he "was saying that he was either going to hurt the deputy or wanted the deputy to kill him."

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