A man who had just defended his home from an attempted break-in ended up being shot by an Orange County deputy just as he unlocked his door.
Newly released body camera footage shows the deputy quietly say “Oh, shit, I didn’t mean…” after his gun fired and struck the victim, who suffered non-life threatening injuries. The deputy has been placed on temporary, paid administrative leave while an investigation of the incident continues.
Deputies had responded Aug. 23 to reports of a home invasion in the 2600 block of Sheringham Road, just off Silver Star Road. A preliminary investigation found the victim, a man in his 40s, had fired shots at four suspects trying to break into his home and that the four ultimately fled on foot.
The nearly two minutes of footage from that deputy’s body-worn camera, released late Wednesday, shows another deputy go up to the man’s door and knock on it, announcing that he’s with the sheriff’s office, while the first deputy stands further away, directly facing the door. Just after the second deputy knocks, a noise is heard coming from the door, as if it’s being unlocked.
Despite being the closest to the door, the second deputy only puts his hand on his holstered gun and doesn’t immediately draw it — but the first deputy quickly draws his weapon and levels it at the door, firing as it opens. The gunshot appears to startle the second deputy, who jumps slightly backward and then draws his weapon.
After the shooting, the victim, on the other side of the door, immediately starts screaming, “You shot me, man!” The second deputy orders him outside, and the man emerges from the home, with one hand covering his thigh.
The man continues to shout at the deputies that they shot him, while a woman is heard inside the home shouting if she can come out now. The second deputy, who says, “That wasn’t me, my man,” leads the victim away.
The other deputies standing in the yard ask what happened, to which the second deputy says “A.D.,” apparently referring to accidental discharge. A third deputy points towards the police cruisers in the street and tells the first deputy to sit down over there.
The victim was released from the hospital later that day, according to the August news release from the sheriff’s office.
The agency’s Wednesday news release containing the body camera footage said the deputy has been relieved of law enforcement duty and temporarily reassigned to an administrative capacity. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is still investigating the incident.
The Wednesday release didn’t mention whether the four home invasion suspects had ever been caught. The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond Wednesday evening to a question about the suspects’ status.
