A police officer in Florida emptied his magazine towards a handcuffed suspect after he thought he heard a gunshot, which was in fact the sound of an acorn having fallen on his patrol vehicle.
The facts, difficult to believe, but illustrating the psychosis linked to weapons in a country where they abound, took place in broad daylight in November 2023 in Okaloosa County, according to a video recently made public by the local sheriff.
The video shows the police officer, named Jesse Hernandez, as he prepares to return to his vehicle parked along the sidewalk, under an oak tree. Inside the car, sitting in the back seat and handcuffed, is a 24-year-old suspect who has just been arrested.
It was at this moment that an acorn fell on the roof bodywork, as determined by the in-depth eight-week investigation, which resulted in a 44-page report.
The sound of the falling acorn can be heard in the body-worn camera recording of Officer Hernandez who, precisely 1.1 seconds after the harmless impact, begins shouting “Gunshots!” Fire!”
Then, in a completely excessive reaction, the police officer threw himself to the ground, rolled over, drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at his own patrol vehicle.
“I am touched! I’m hit!”, he can be heard shouting in the video, even though no one is aiming at him.
At the same time, a colleague of the police officer, who was also outside the vehicle, also drew her weapon and in turn emptied her magazine towards the vehicle.
Miraculously, the handcuffed suspect in the back seat was not hit by the multiple bullets that struck the car. The investigation showed that this man, Marquis Jackson, suspected of a trivial theft, was not carrying any firearm.
Officer Hernandez, a former soldier recently recruited into law enforcement, was convicted of excessive use of deadly force.
According to the investigation report, he explained that he mistook the sound of the falling acorn for the detonation of a silenced pistol. He resigned from the police.
“I recognize that this was a truly dramatic and traumatic moment for Mr. Jackson and we are so relieved and grateful that he was not injured,” Sheriff Eric Aden said, before publicly apologizing.
