Florence police say that a video circulating on social media this week of an officer arresting a bleeding man in Walmart only “shows a small glimpse of an entire incident.”

In a now deleted post, a Florence woman shared a video of an officer pinning a man down on the floor of Walmart and cuffing him while he bled heavily from the front of his face.

In a statement released this morning, Police Chief Mike Holt wrote that “the video and commentary posted paints a dangerously inaccurate picture of what occurred during this incident.”

“The individual in question was armed with a knife on his hip and was actively resisting arrest,” the statement reads.

“The officer attempted to place the male in handcuffs but he resisted.”

Holt said the “officer took the subject to the ground. While on the ground, the individual refused to remove his uncuffed hand from underneath him, near the knife, creating a significant threat to the officer’s safety, as well as the safety of others.”

“Due to the threat, the officer delivered two strikes to the subject’s head, which freed his hand,” the statement says.

“The strikes created a laceration to the subject’s eyebrow, creating heavy bleeding.”

The man was transported to the hospital via ambulance and was later released to the Lauderdale County Detention Center, where he was charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, and retail theft 3rd degree, according to the release.

“It is critical that our community understands the facts before drawing conclusions, as misrepresentations like these undermine both the community trust and officer safety,” the statement concluded.

Commentors’ reactions varied, and one man shared a screen recording of the original video in response.

“People need to place themselves in the police shoes in this instance, the subject was publicly intoxicated, theft is also involved,” someone wrote.

“9 times out of 10 most police would have engaged in shooting the suspect for not releasing their grip on a weapon. Which the FPD showed extreme restraint in not drawing their service pistol.”

“They literally gave this suspect another chance at life,” he continued.

“Hats off to the police, maybe this person will re-think the choices they’ve made in life and start toeing the line.”

But others say the situation was handled poorly.

“‘We’ve investigated ourselves and found the officer was not at fault’,” one man commented.

“Y’all shouldn’t be allowed to hit people while they are hand cuffed… I’d sue the hell out of florence,” another commentor wrote.

“Shouldn’t be allowed to hit them period if they are already on the ground. He didn’t appear to be a threat. Y’all take that badge too seriously.”