Officer on Paid Leave
The officer that shot and killed a suspect in Cantonment last week is on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
- At his weekly presser yesterday, Mayor D.C. Reeves and Police Chief Eric Randall briefly discussed the shooting that left a suspect dead on June 28.
Mayor Reeves said, “All officer-involved shootings are handled by FDLE , and I can’t really give many details on an open investigation, other than we don’t expect it to be wrapped up at any point this week.”
Dig Deeper: Chief Randall gave the basic information the incident:
“We’re following up on a hit-and-run investigation that occurred in the downtown area. Information letters to this address (Durant Lane in Cantonment). While in route, a request for backup from our partner agency sheriff’s office was made.
“Prior to backup getting there, there was an altercation between the officer and the individual that ultimately resulted in the unfortunate death of the individual.
“And as with any officer-involved shooting, we partner with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as part of our MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with them to investigate these things. So we turned over the scene to FDLE who was taking charge of the investigation.”
The chief said it wasn’t unusual for a Pensacola Police officer to attempt to confront a suspect outside of the city limits.
“We do follow up with victims, witnesses, suspects and different things of that nature outside of the city,” said Chief Randall. “We have cooperation agreements with the sheriff’s office relevant to that, but it’s not unusual because crimes occur in the city, but it’s a victim, suspect or witness isn’t. We have to go to another location to interview those people to find out more.”
Is there a police policy to wait for backup before confronting a suspect?
The chief said, “That depends on the nature of the situation because sometimes situations are very, very fluent based on what’s going on. Normally you want to get your back up, but sometimes situations are dynamic.”
Final Gun Violence Roundtable
He said the announcement had been delayed because it has taken time to fit the meeting into the schedules of the various partners in the roundtables.
Relief for Blue Angels Air Show
Why this matters: The heat index is expected to be in triple digits.
“Like previous years, temperatures will be in the 90s with high heat indexes, so we wanted to offer an alternative place for fans to cool off and avoid serious heat conditions,” said Meg Peltier, President and CEO of the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center.
“Blue Angels fans negatively affected by the heat are welcome to stop in our air-conditioned building with restrooms to cool off and rehydrate. There will also be outdoor cooling tents with fans, cooling misters and free water available throughout the show.”