A man spoke out about a terrifying encounter with Florida deputies who handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a patrol car before opening fire on the car.
That shooting happened on November 12, 2023, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Authorities were sent to McLaren Circle that morning after dispatchers received a couple of calls from that area. Okaloosa County deputies were first called about a car driving around, honking its horn, and disrupting the peace since 3 a.m. that morning.
Then, a woman called the sheriff’s office to report her boyfriend, 22-year-old Marquis Jackson. She said Jackson had allegedly committed grand theft auto and was sending her threats through texts and phone calls, according to WKRG.
Deputies met the woman who showed them pictures of a firearm silencer in her car. Jackson arrived on the scene shortly after and was questioned by police before being searched, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a patrol car driven by former deputy Jesse Hernandez.
Jackson’s girlfriend also told deputies that Jackson had a silencer and more than one weapon but never said where they were. Jackson was unarmed during the entire encounter.
Meanwhile, other deputies found the woman’s car on a street a few miles from McLaren Circle.
According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, after hearing the car had been located, Hernandez returned to his vehicle to search Jackson again when he heard a “pop” sound he thought was a gunshot and thought he had been struck by gunfire.
Bodycam footage shows Hernandez rolling on the ground and moving away from the vehicle while yelling, “Shots fired!” several times before firing his gun at his patrol car where Jackson was being held.
Jackson wrote on Facebook that he remembers the horrifying moment when Hernandez opened fire.
“As soon as that was announced multiple shots were fired at me while I was stuck in the backseat. All I could do was lean over and play dead to prevent getting shot in the head,” Jackson wrote. “I was scared to death and I knew all I could depend on was God! I ignored everything and prayed! Windows were shattering on me the whole time as bullets continued flying across me.”
Hernandez fired more than a dozen shots at and into the car, all of which missed Jackson. Another deputy, identified as Sergeant Beth Roberts, also shot toward the car after she heard Hernandez yelling.
Jackson wasn’t hurt, and authorities didn’t find a weapon on him either.
After the shooting, Jackson said deputies approached the patrol car, pointing their weapons at him before swarming the vehicle, taking him out of the car, and slamming him on the ground. Then, they took him to the hospital.
“At that moment, I saw just how many officers there were,” Jackson wrote. “But the image I can’t get out of my head is seeing how bad my mom was hurt/crying right before I got into the ambulance!”
In the body camera video, viewers can hear a woman screaming in the background after the shooting.
Jackson also said that after he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, his pictures and fingerprints were taken at the Okaloosa County Courthouse, but he was never told what he’d been charged with, according to his post.
“I continued to ask every officer I saw what was I being charged with and they all said the same thing… ‘I don’t know, we’re waiting on more info,'” Jackson wrote. “I sat in the cell for hours! Eventually, an officer told me I’m free to go and that I am not charged with anything.”
Although Jackson miraculously escaped injury, he said that the shooting left him permanently scarred.
“I haven’t been the same since and I don’t think this feeling I have will ever change. I truly believe I’m damaged for life!”
Weeks after the shooting took place, Hernandez resigned from his position after an internal sheriff’s office investigation determined his use of force was not objectively reasonable. Investigators determined Roberts’ use of force was reasonable and she was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden released a statement regarding the incident and Hernandez’s resignation:
“We are very thankful Mr. Jackson wasn’t injured and we have no reason to think former Deputy Hernandez acted with any malice. We are limited in further response due to pending litigation. But let this be clear, we understand this situation was traumatic for Mr. Jackson and all involved and have incorporated this officer involved shooting into our training to try to ensure nothing similar happens again.
Though his actions were ultimately not warranted, we do believe he felt his life was in immediate peril and his response was based off the totality of circumstances surrounding this fear.
Just as we have an obligation to protect our officers so they can go home safely to their families, law enforcement has the same obligation to any citizen being investigated for a crime.”
