JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four newly released body cam videos shared by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office show the events that unfolded when an officer was shot outside Baptist Medical Center South in April.
The incident began when an off-duty officer noticed a vehicle driving through the hospital parking lot suspiciously, JSO said. The officer attempted to stop the car, but Jeffrey Martin, who was identified as the shooter, kept driving.
In one clip, the white Chevy Impala Martin was driving approached an officer, who told Martin repeatedly to stop the car. Martin refused and yells out, “Shoot it. Shoot it!” according to the video.
Then the officer is heard yelling, “He’s got a zero!” (JSO code for a gun) multiple times then a shot is heard.
The second clip shows the officer driving in the parking lot and a radio call was made as police searched for Jeffrey, but Jeffery wasn’t trying to evade police. He was actively engaging them.
Jeffrey rams into two officers’ cruisers and then an officer hits Jeffrey’s car from behind and gets out of the car with a gun drawn. You can hear a shot then the officer fires numerous times in Jeffrey’s car.
The third clip is from the officer who was hit. He approaches Martin’s car after it’s stopped. The camera catches a flash of Martin’s shot, and the wounded officer staggers backward and falls to his knees.
You can hear the officer saying, “I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot in the throat” among the rounds of gunfire.
Another officer comes over to administer aid to the injured officer.
The video also included photos of the damage to the police cars, Martin’s handgun and an AK-47 with more than 90 rounds of ammunition found inside Martin’s car.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Lakesha Burton said the officers followed protocol.
“You have to understand, if you’ve never been in a shootout, it’s very difficult to really understand what the adrenaline the scene was very chaotic. This is somebody that was attempting to try to kill the police. And then one of the most important jobs that they had was to contain and detain this individual. So he could not leave that vicinity. And I think that they did everything they could to make sure that didn’t happen. Unfortunately, it resulted in the suspect being killed,” Burton said.
The bodycam footage was released 21 days after the shooting.
The State Attorney’s Office is still conducting a criminal investigation. The wounded officer is recovering from the gunshot wound.