Florida deputy fires gun at patrol car with person inside after mistaking acorn for gunshot | VIDEO

BySha'de Ray, WEAR
Friday, February 16, 2024
Florida deputy fires gun after mistaking acorn for gunshot | VIDEO
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office released body cam video showing an officer-involved shooting in November that led to a deputy's resignation.

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. -- A sheriff's office in the Florida panhandle released bodycam video of an officer-involved shooting from November.

It shows a deputy firing his weapon multiple times at a suspect inside a patrol vehicle after he mistakenly thought he'd been shot.

This bodycam footage shows Deputy Jesse Hernandez walking to his patrol car. An acorn is seen falling on the roof -- that's when Hernandez fell and yelled.

The sheriff says deputies were responding to a disturbance call in Fort Walton Beach last November after a call from Marquis Jackson's girlfriend.

She claimed Jackson refused to return her car and sent threatening text messages.

The girlfriend also told officers Jackson had weapons.

Bodycam video shows Jackson being searched and then detained.

It goes on to show Hernandez heading to his car to search Jackson again.

"I've been hit! I'm hit!" Hernandez could be heard saying in the video.

However, he was not hit, according to the internal investigation report.

Hernandez says he thought gunshots came from inside his patrol car.

The video shows Hernandez shooting at the back of his car. Sergeant Beth Roberts opened fire too.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said he couldn't comment on the incident because of possible litigation. He did, however, release a video statement saying the sheriff's office is working to prevent this from happening again.

"We're actually going to use this particular case as training for the rest of our staff as a potential thing that we need to watch out for to make sure that we never put someone's life in jeopardy again," Sheriff Aden said in the prerecorded video.

The investigation reports that Jackson did not fire a weapon. It also states the sound Hernandez heard was likely an acorn hitting the roof of his car.

Luckily, Jackson, who was in the back of the patrol car, was not hurt.

Meanwhile, Deputy Hernandez resigned from the force in December after an internal investigation found his use of force was not objectively reasonable.

The investigation found Sergeant Roberts' use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and she was cleared.