JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was shot and killed by a Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer on Monday night after the man fought with the officer during a traffic stop, according to police.
The man, whose name has not been released, was pulled over around 7:35 p.m. in the 7000 area of 103rd Street for an expired tag.
"The subject tells him he does not have a drivers license on him and gives him multiple names and dates of birth... In the course of that, he is not able to find an exact match for the name but uses a combination of the names and finds a photograph and some info he believes matches the subject," said Tom Hackney, Director of Investigations and Homeland Security for JSO.
Patrol Officer Cecil Grant discovered after getting the man's information that he was driving on a suspended license.
Grant, who has been with JSO one year, had the man get out of the Buick sedan, which also contained a female passenger.
"He goes to place one handcuff on the subject. Immediately upon that handcuff being placed on the subject, a fight ensued between the subject and the [Grant]. [Grant] was pushed back, the subject swung at the officer. He began to flee on foot from where the original traffic stop, immediately to the east in another parking area that's thereby," said Hackney.
The man pushed Grant, swung a punch at him and attempted to run away. Grant used his Taser on the man, who fell to the ground. But when Grant attempted a second time to take the man into custody, the man again fought and during the struggle, he gained control of Grant's Taser.
"[Grant] loses it from his hands. Subject gets it in his, so subject is now armed with the officer's taser. As well as one hand cuffed on. Now that's not just a handcuff, that can be used as a weapon. It's part of our academy training that one subject with one hand cuff on is fairly dangerous," said Hackney.
The man regained his footing and, still armed with the Taser, charged at Grant, who fired at least two shots at the man, hitting him at least once, according to Hackney.
"In many cases that's what happens, that's when the fight ensues is when you place that handcuff on the subject," Hackney said. "Reality kind of sets in."
The man was killed at the scene, and Grant was placed on administrative leave pending results of the investigation, per JSO protocol. Hackney said the entire incident following the traffic stop lasted about 30 minutes.
Hackney said an autopsy will be performed Tuesday.
Hackney said the female passenger, who was an acquaintance of the victim, was very cooperative and was released. No charges were filed against her.
"She made statements to the detective that as the officer was getting the information and going to check on it that his license was suspended," Hackney said. "And he told her that he was not going to go back to jail."
Hackney said the investigation continues into the details of this incident and that a news conference will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday with more details on the suspect.
"We will do an investigation here. Part of this is scene work, part of this is follow up work. The state attorney will do a separate investigation as well," said Hackney.
