A police officer mistook the sound of the oak for a gunshot and opened fire

The incident that occurred in Florida was unprecedented, as a police officer emptied his gun at the suspect, who had handcuffed him for the first time, when he heard an acorn falling into the police car and thought it was a bullet.

This particular event, typical of Americans' obsession with guns, occurred on a November day in 2023 in Okaloosa County, according to a video recently posted by the local sheriff.

The video shows Officer Jesse Hernandez preparing to enter the police car. Inside the car, in the back seat, was a 24-year-old suspect, whom he had just arrested and handcuffed.

That's when a large acorn fell on the car, according to the findings of an eight-week internal police investigation that resulted in a 44-page report.

The sound of the oak was captured by the camera worn by Hernandez, who after exactly 1.1 seconds began shouting “Gunshots! Gunshots!”.

The officer immediately fell to the ground, rolled over and pulled his gun, before firing several shots at the police car. “They beat me! They beat me!” he can be heard screaming in the video.

At the same time, his colleague, who was also outside the police car, pulled out her weapon and emptied the magazine into the car.

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#Florida The officer has a suspect in the back of the patrol car. An acorn falls and hits the car. The officer believes he has been shot and returns fire. The officer later resigns. His partner who also fired back had her case dismissed because she only fired because he did so. pic.twitter.com/kjpwA080 Hz

– #Resistance (@BoneKnightmare) February 14, 2024

Miraculously, the suspect in the back seat was not hit by bullets. The investigation showed that the arrested person, Marquis Jackson, did not carry a weapon.

Hernandez, a former soldier who recently joined the police force, was found guilty of excessive use of deadly force. He stated that he believed the sound of the oak was a shot from a silenced pistol. He resigned from the police force.

“I acknowledge that this was a particularly dramatic and painful moment for Jackson, and we are truly relieved that he was not injured,” Sheriff Eric Aden said in a public apology.