Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office vehicles line the 3500 block of South Ocean Boulevard in South Palm Beach on the morning of the shooting. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Emily Rose Finn and Mary Thurwachter
A deputy responding to a request for assistance from a man who walked up to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office substation in South Palm Beach soon found herself in a life-or-death struggle with the man.
The 32-year-old man said he needed her car and, when told that wasn’t going to happen, he lunged at her for her gun, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a news conference describing the Sept. 17 incident.
The man knocked the deputy over backward and started pummeling her while on top of her, but the deputy was able to get control of her gun and shot the man in the chest, killing him.
“This could have gone very, very bad for this female deputy,” Bradshaw said. “She literally was fighting for her life. She did a good job just making sure that she was going to survive.”
The man was identified as Rex Alexander Magann, who officials said had been “Baker acted” — involuntarily detained for a mental health evaluation — at least four times, including twice last year. He also had a previous run-in with police and attacked a hospital worker.
While PBSO withheld the name of the deputy, multiple sources have identified her to The Coastal Star as Donna Korb — familiarly known around town as “Deputy Donna” — who has been with PBSO for at least 25 years, including the last four in South Palm Beach.
The deputy, who Bradshaw said was taken to HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis to be treated for facial injuries and evaluated for a possible concussion, was released later the same day, officials said.
A fateful call
The incident unfolded around 7:35 a.m. on State Road A1A near Town Hall, which is on the same property as the substation. Magann picked up a phone there and told dispatch he needed medical assistance, officials said.
Korb responded solo to the call and asked the man how she could help. According to Bradshaw, Magann told her: “I need a car. I’m taking your car,” before attacking her when she said no.
Bradshaw described the assault as “very, very violent.”
“He finally pushes her back, knocks her off her feet. She hits her head on the ground in the back. He’s on top of her, they’re still wrestling for the gun, he finally starts beating her in the face and in the chest to see if he can knock her unconscious.”
The deputy was able to get control of her gun and shot Magann, said Bradshaw, who described him as 5-feet-11 and 250 pounds and much bigger than the deputy.
“She saved her own life, without a doubt,” Bradshaw said. “This guy was intent on getting that gun.”
The shooting investigation closed A1A in town for about seven hours, Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said. Town officials canceled all meetings and services at Town Hall for the day.
The deputy was placed on paid administrative leave, according to standard agency protocol. The ongoing investigation includes the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and PBSO’s Violent Crimes Division.
Magann’s background
Titcomb said law enforcement told him that Magann was a local resident who had been living with his mother in town.
He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to separate charges of assault on a law enforcement officer and battery on an emergency medical care provider, according to court records. He was on probation when the Sept. 17 attack took place, the sheriff said.
Both incidents took place in January 2025 after Manalapan police sought to pull Magann over for a traffic stop on A1A. Instead, according to the probable cause affidavit in that case, Magann repeatedly rammed the 2013 Hyundai Veloster he was driving into a parked police car, which had its emergency lights flashing. He left in the Hyundai and later, in the Ocean Inlet Park parking lot, fled on foot before being apprehended.
While in custody a couple of days later, he was taken from the Palm Beach County Jail to Neurobehavioral Hospital in West Palm Beach to be Baker acted, a West Palm Beach police report said. He arrived “argumentative and hostile” police were told. During intake, he rushed one of the medical care providers and hit him with a closed fist in the face, with a scuffle following as Magann continued to throw punches and kicks at the man, the police report said.
‘Deputy Donna’
The struggle and shooting in South Palm Beach wasn’t the first time Korb had encountered a life-or-death situation in town. On May 8, 2023, she didn’t hesitate to rescue a woman who was drowning and fighting to get back to shore.
Irina Bereslavska, now 71, is a frequent visitor to the town from Manhattan. Korb had seen her going into the ocean for a late afternoon swim that day, and she grew concerned due to the current and the swimmer’s age. Once Korb saw that Bereslavska was struggling, she notified dispatch, shed her uniform and ran into the water to rescue the Latvian-born woman.
“That’s when years of dive experience seemed to kick in, knowing the danger she was in if not reached quickly,” Korb told The Coastal Star three years ago.
Korb with help from residents got a pool rescue ring float, then swam out and handed the float to the distressed swimmer and guided her back to shore.
Without Korb’s intervention, the likelihood Bereslavska would have drowned was high, authorities said.
“She helped me a lot and I really appreciate it,” Bereslavska said when contacted by phone after the shooting. She had been visiting her friend Elena Kleer in the Mayfair condominium at the time of her 2023 rescue. “The town is lucky to have her. I was lucky to have her there looking out for me.”
Korb has also impressed former Mayor Bonnie Fischer, a town resident for 52 years.
“As a woman and mayor for many years, I’ve gotten to know Donna Korb and recognize her ability to navigate from a position of strength and fortitude. She has been a valuable asset to the town.”
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
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