NEW: Florida deputy hears acorn hit his police car, thinks he has been shot at and then opens fire on his own patrol car with a cuffed man in the back of the car.
Unreal.
Okaloosa County deputy Jesse Hernandez convinced himself that he was not only shot at, but that he was also… pic.twitter.com/LXHx26TSMt
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 14, 2024
At least he had the decency to turn in his badge.
A Florida cop resigned after opening fire on an unarmed black man who was handcuffed in his patrol car — because he confused the sound of an acorn hitting the vehicle with a muffled gunshot.
Sgt. Beth Roberts, who also opened fire, was exonerated in an internal investigation and remained on the job, according to police.
The deputies had responded to a complaint from Jackson’s girlfriend, who alleged that the man had committed grand theft auto, threatened her and was in possession of multiple firearms and a silencer, according to police.
When Hernandez approached the right rear door to search the suspect again, he apparently mistook the sound of an acorn hitting the car for a gunshot and quickly reacted with potentially deadly force.
That dude had one too many energy drinks during his shift.
Just remember, that as an untrained civilian, you can’t be expected to keep a level head and not turn every misunderstanding into a shootout. That’s why only cops should carry guns in public.
they just HAD to say “unarmed BLACK man” …. Ive had a few cops tell me they only shoot once a year to qualify…
makes ya all warn n fuzzy hey?
Deeply suppressed fear of death compensated for, and countered with, a “shoot first always, then ask questions if you’re alive”, mental strategy. I want to know how many rounds struck the cruiser. Downrange was highly populated and active for that hour of the day. I guess, because the news report did not mention any casualties, that he’s the second luckiest person of the day, the first was the handcuffed person in the vehicle. (The fact that he wasn’t hit, I believe, means only one or none of the shots fired hit the vehicle.)
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Note to self–add ‘sound identification class’, which includes acorns, pinecones, small branches and area specific fruits, dropped onto vehicles, to the advanced training program.
The worst part of the story is that the co-perpetrator was “exhonerated and remained on the job”.
I am, once again, going to go ahead and assume “diversity” hire.
Gosh, I remember the last time that happened to me. The wind blew funny and I thought I was back in Iraq, so I jumped out and unloaded two magazines into the back of my car, narrowly missing the Al Qaeda insurgents that in reality turned out to be my kids.
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The wife and I had a good laugh, we took the totally-understanding responding officers out for beers and the kids to McDonald’s, and we all went on our merry way in our car that no longer needs A/C with its 30 new ventilation holes and no windows. The worst part was explaining to our insurance company why they needed to cover the damages for the sixth time. LOL!
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[end sarcasm, because “duh”]
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In all seriousness, if he wasn’t a cop, he’d be held for attempted murder, just like you or I would if we’d done that. The fact that it wasn’t an actual murder is a minor miracle and/or a testament to how crappy city cops are at shooting. (And if I were that suspect, I’d be straightening out my life, signing up for community college classes, and finding a church … because DAMN!)
Attended Andrew Branca’s live show today. He covered this subject in detail. Clarified each aspect of this debacle. Here’s a link to the 44-page official report, it’s worth the read – https://lawofselfdefense.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IA-2023-031-Final-Report-Jackson.pdf
Yikes… Tactical roll, fighting from the ground and crawling to cover with an empty gun in one hand and loaded magazine in the other, then forgetting said full magazine under a car so your last moments as a cop are pointing an empty gun at an empty “threat”.
One point for creating distance, but that seems to be the only sound (heh) tactic.
Read the first half of the 44-page report and re-watched, he indeed does reload out of frame, and do see a magazine baseeplate in place later, but can’t see or hear the acorn as mentioned on the report.
Have experienced a golf ball bounce off my vehicle while driving, my sympathies as it probably isn’t all that different from the sound of a suppressed shot exiting a closed vehicle.