PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – The Pinellas County State Attorney’s Office announced today that the fatal officer-involved shooting of 42-year-old Eric Ton by a Pinellas Park Police Department officer has been deemed justifiable homicide.
In a letter addressed to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and released on Thursday, October 23, 2025, State Attorney Bruce Barlett concluded that Officer Greyson Ekdahl-McBride was “in the lawful performance of his legal duties” when he fired his weapon.
The incident stemmed from a call to a residence, operating as an Airbnb, to remove a guest, Eric Ton, who had allegedly overstayed his scheduled termination date and armed himself.
According to the State Attorney’s findings, the Pinellas Park Police Department attempted to de-escalate the situation. Still, Mr. Ton “ignored numerous commands to exit peacefully or be arrested for Armed Trespassing.”
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The situation escalated once law enforcement entered the home. Barlett’s letter states that Mr. Ton “ignored commands to drop the knife and continued to approach the officers in an aggressive manner.”
The investigation determined that at the moment the officer fired, Mr. Ton was committing “the forcible felonies of Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer.”
Barlett specified that both Corporal Fox and Officer Ekdahl-McBride “feared for the life of Corporal Fox as well as for himself and his fellow officers.”
The letter concluded: “Officer Ekdahl-McBride was justified in using deadly force by firing his weapon in order to end the imminent and deadly threat by Eric Ton.”
The State Attorney’s Office found the death of Eric Ton to be justifiable homicide.
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