Deputy Scared By an Acorn Hitting His Cruiser Opens Fire On His Patrol Car
BAD SHOOT(S)
On November 12, 2023, at approximately 0842 hours a call for service was received concerning a vehicle which had been driving on McLaren Circle, south of Green Acres in Fort Walton Beach, honking its horn and disrupting the peace since 0300 hours. The suspect was described as a black male in his late twenties. At roughly 0855 a call for service was received from Ms. Celestiana Lopez stating her boyfriend, Mr. Marquis Jackson, was refusing to return her vehicle and had been calling and texting her threats. She was at a friend’s home on McLaren Circle.
— From the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office, Office of Professional Standards Administrative Investigation
“Shots fired!” “Shots fired!”
Newly released body camera footage of the November 2023 incident shows the dramatic moments the Okaloosa County deputy shot at his patrol vehicle while a handcuffed suspect was inside. As he stumbled to the ground, Hernandez yelled “Shots fired!” four times, according to the video and an internal investigation conducted by by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards. He then opens fire on his vehicle.
“I’m hit! I’m hit!”
“I’m hit! I’m hit!” the deputy, Jesse Hernandez, can be heard yelling, though no one was shooting at him.
Hernandez told investigators three days later he heard “what I believe would be a suppressed weapon off to the side. Definitely heard this noise. At the same time, I felt an impact on my right side, like upper torso area … I feel the impact. My legs just give out.
Sergeant Beth Roberts with the sheriff’s office also fired her weapon multiple times at the patrol vehicle, believing Hernandez was in danger, according to the report. Hernandez and the sergeant both fired their weapons at the patrol car until their firearms were emptied, according to the report.
Shortly after Deputy Hernandez yells “Shots fired!”, he falls down. From the investigation: “Deputy Hernandez tries to stand up, but falls backwards hitting his head on the ground.
From the investigation
0:08.745 – Deputy Hernandez fires his first shot towards his patrol vehicle. It appears as
though the first shot was bullet hole 4A as marked on a picture (Exhibit 9) of
the rear of Deputy Hernandez’s patrol vehicle taken of the incident.
0:09.735 – The rear glass on the patrol vehicle starts to break.
0:12.474 – Deputy Hernandez tries to stand up, but falls backwards.
0:13.4 – As he is falling onto his back, he lets out a grunt.
0:13.497 – His BWC (body cam) is facing straight up. He has landed on his back.
0:13.563 – A temple, which had broken off Deputy Hernandez’s sunglasses flies into
frame. He had had a pair of sunglasses propped up on his head. He is rolling
onto his left side.
0:13.695 – Deputy Hernandez is lying on his left side. His firearm comes back into
frame as he bringing it back on target (his patrol vehicle).
0:14.0 – Sergeant Roberts yells, “Jesse, are you ok?”
0:14.652 – He is still lying on his left side, but he is back into a two-hand high-point grip,
and he resumes firing at his vehicle.
0:15.0 – Deputy Hernandez answers Sergeant Roberts by yelling, “I’m hit! I’m hit!”
0:16.896 – Deputy Hernandez fires his last round, Sergeant Roberts had already fired her
last round. He fired six rounds while lying on his left side. The slide on his
P320 locked to the rear indicating his firearm is out of ammunition.
✱ The detainee in the patrol car was not injured
✱ The investigation determined that Hernandez’s use of force was “not objectively reasonable”
✱ The sergeant’s use of force was found to be “objectively reasonable”
✱ Hernandez quit the force during the investigation
✱ Hernandez said he’d never been shot before, so he didn’t know what it felt like. The deputies who responded helped Hernandez into the back of an ambulance that took him to the hospital. “Once at the hospital, he learned he had not been shot,” investigators wrote.
🔫 The report says both officers emptied their pistols at the patrol car. Both officers used the Sig Sauer P320. If they had .40 caliber pistols, they held 14+1 Rounds. If they had 9mm it’s 17+1 according to my quick research.
Mr. Marquis Jackson
