Deputy thinks an Acorn hitting the roof of his car is gunfire so he unloaded his firearm at his own car that had an unarmed suspect inside. This is next level incompetence.
βThe incident took place in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Deputies from the Okaloosa County Sheriffβs Office responded to a call regarding a man named Marquis Jackson.
Jacksonβs girlfriend had called the police, accusing him of stealing her car and sending her threatening text messages.
βDeputies located Jackson, detained him, handcuffed him behind his back, and placed him in the backseat of a standard patrol vehicle for questioning.
βDeputy Jesse Hernandez, a trainee at the time, was walking back toward the patrol vehicle where Jackson was being held. As he approached the passenger side of the car, a small acorn fell from an overhead tree and struck the roof of the vehicle.
βBecause of the metallic thud it made on the roof, Deputy Hernandez misidentified the sound as a muffled gunshot from inside the vehicle. What followed was a massive cascade of panic:
βHernandez immediately fell to the ground, rolled, and began screaming, "Shots fired! Shots fired! I'm hit! I'm hit!"
βBelieving he had been shot in the torso and that Jackson was actively firing at him through the car windows, Hernandez drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds into the patrol car.
βHearing her partnerβs screams and weapon fire, Sergeant Beth Robertsβwho was also on the sceneβassumed they were under fire. She drew her weapon and also opened fire on the vehicle.
βIn total, the two officers fired more than 20 rounds into the patrol car.
βDespite the patrol car being riddled with bullets and shattered glass, Marquis Jackson was completely uninjured. Because he was handcuffed, he could only lean away and press himself as low as possible into the floorboard/seat crack of the vehicle to avoid the gunfire.
βDeputy Hernandez was also not injured. After the dust settled, medical staff confirmed he had not been shot; his belief that he was hit was likely a psychological reaction to intense panic (often referred to as a phantom injury).
βThe Okaloosa County Sheriffβs Office conducted an extensive internal investigation into the shooting.
The investigation concluded that Deputy Hernandezβs use of force was not objectively reasonable. While Hernandez genuinely believed he was under threat, the investigation found no evidence of any weapon on Jackson, nor any reasonable justification for mistaking an acorn for a gunshot.
Sergeant Roberts' use of force was found to be legally justified under the "fellow officer rule," as she was reacting to what she reasonably believed was her partner being shot.
Deputy Hernandez resigned from the sheriff's office during the investigation, effectively ending his career in law enforcement.
β Sheriff Eric Aden publicly released the bodycam footage and issued a formal apology to Marquis Jackson and the community, stating that the department failed in its duty to protect a suspect in their custody.
βUltimately, Jackson was cleared of any wrongdoing regarding the shooting, and the event remains a textbook example used in law enforcement training regarding hyper-vigilance and the dangers of misinterpreting sensory input during high-stress situations.
It's one thing when you have a new member of law enforcement that might be confused on the laws and the rights of citizens. They can be educated to correct those errors, however it's a whole different ball game when you have actually attorneys and judges with that same level of ignorance and disregard for the rights of the citizens. They absolutely should know better which Typically means their actions are on purpose.