Moment screeching cop opens fire on handcuffed suspect after thinking falling ACORN was gunshot – & screams ‘I’m hit!’
THIS is the bizarre moment a screeching cop opens fire at a handcuffed suspect in a car after mistaking a falling acorn for a gunshot.
The petrified officer screams “I’m hit” as he calls for back up as a team of armed cops swarm the baffled suspect sitting in a bullet ridden car.
Bodycam footage shows Deputy Jessy Hernandez throwing himself to the ground after he hears a suspicious noise from behind a car.
The Florida cop then rolls around the floor as he searches for cover before pulling out his handgun and firing an entire clip of bullets into the back of his own squad car.
Hernandez told his bosses he believed the man he had just arrested and thrown into his car in handcuffs, Marquis Jackson, had shot him.
Jackson had been extensively searched for weapons before he has put in the backseat, say reports.
Hernandez can be heard yelling “shots fired” in the clip as all hell breaks loose when he positions himself behind his car and opens fire.
After a series of bullets are sent flying into the car boot Hernandez lets out a screech as he falls onto his side and tells his colleague Sergeant Beth Roberts, “I’m hit, I’m hit!”
Roberts then joins in on the shooting as Hernandez crawls across the road saying he was “shot through the car” and continues to groan in pain.
In the footage – filmed back in November 2023 – Hernandez then tells Roberts: “I’m good, I feel weird but I’m good”.
A person can then be heard pleading with the officers to stop but is told to “get back” as shouting continues across the street.
Hernandez tells his fellow officer the bullet “might have hit my vest” as he takes cover behind a parked car.
A woman can then be heard loudly crying and screaming at the cops in the video as they check on Jackson.
Moments later a second police unit arrives with their sirens blaring as a pair of cops with assault rifles call Hernandez over and ask where he was hit.
Windows were shattering on me the whole time as bullets continued flying across me. I was blessed not to get hit by any bullets or get hurt
Marquis Jackson
Jackson was not hurt in the shooting but says he is traumatised by the events.
He took to social media to describe what was going through his head as he heard gunshots battering the car around him.
He said: “All I could do was lean over and play dead to prevent getting shot in the head.
“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. I was blessed not to get hit by any bullets or get hurt physically but mentally, I’m not ok.”
Florida officials opened up an investigation on the situation and were told by Hernandez that he started to shoot after hearing a suppressed weapon be fired.
He then said he felt an “impact” on his right side that he thought was a bullet.
But after investigators showed him back his bodycam footage he saw an acorn bouncing off his car and making the noise.
Hernandez said: “What I heard sounded what I think would be louder than an acorn hitting the roof of the car, but there’s obviously an acorn hitting the roof of the car.”
He resigned after the incident back in December.
Eric Aden, Okaloosa county’s sheriff, said his actions “were ultimately not warranted” but did believe “his life was in immediate peril”.
