Posted on 10/02/2005 6:47:00 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
Photos Show Moments Before Officer Shot By OPD Apparent Badge Seen Around Jenkins' Neck
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Photos snapped by a University of Central Florida grad student captured campus officer Mario Jenkins with his gun drawn and an apparent police badge hanging around his neck moments before he was mistakenly shot and killed by an Orlando police officer.
Jenkins, an officer who had been working with state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco agents to curb underage drinking, died after being shot Saturday outside the Citrus Bowl by a retired Orlando police officer working on reserve status.
Witnesses said Jenkins got into a scuffle with a student, fired his gun into the air and was then shot by Orlando officer Dennis Smith, who was nearby.
The new photos of the incident may yield more clues into what happened before the fatal shooting.
"The photos give a glimpse of the scene just moments before the shooting and they are difficult to look at when you consider they are of the last moments of Officer Jenkins' life," Local 6 reporter Nancy Alvarez said.
The first photo shows Jenkins holding an unidentified student by the back of the shirt with his gun drawn.
"Jenkins clearly has his gun drawn," Alvarez said. "He is holding the gun in his right hand and the barrel is pointing away from the man."
The second released photo shows Jenkins (in a green shirt) in the middle of what appears to be a scuffle. In the same photo, is the man who was also shot during the fight -- Mike Young.
Another view of the same photos shows a group of tailgaters watching the fight. One man appears to be pointing and laughing.
The photos are part of a group of 18 images sent to UCF's newspaper.
The UCF alumni did not want to be identified.
Investigators are not releasing any details of the shooting until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement completes an investigation.
There is alot more to this story than what is being reported.
It's hard to tell from this picture, but the kid that the UCF cop has the gun drawn on is bleeding from the back of his neck. I haven't yet seen a reason why - whether a gunshot wound, scratches, etc.
Officer Jenkins was a university cop that was part of a task force put together to combat underage drinking (a fruitless endevour given college students are involved).
As far as I know, there were no Feds involved. The task force was comprised of local agencies and the uniformed officer that shot officer Jenkins was Orlando PD.
I haven't followed this story for a few days so corrections are welcome.
yeah, i read that link as well after posting, obviouskly the circumstances of that quote (funeral) are not conducive to objective sharing of information about the incident.....also with that said, someone arriving late to the scene would not know all of that, apparently the case with the orlando cop.
Who know what lighting and distance issues were for said cop.
Was never a undercover but plain old uniform service. I know that it's pretty poor tactics to be hands on with a suspect with your weapon drawn, if I was outnumbered in a scuffle I would try to break contact and get my back against something then get the weapon out. Not have one hand on suspect and one hand on my weapon so suspects friends could take me from behind and get control of my weapon
"And for what, underage drinking?? Ridiculous and tragic."
(affixing tin foil chapeau) Given what happened at Oklahoma this weekend and that man's post last week about stepped-up security at the Air Force Academy game, it makes me wonder if the Florida cops weren't a little edgier than usual due to some kind of private warning coming down from Homeland Security.
Rush went through that one day.
If my memory is correct(and I may be WAY off) it goes like this:
In 1938 a farmer wanted to use some of his wheat as seed, instead of cattle feed, and did so. Someone ( the feds I think) sued him because farmers were prohibited by federal law from selling wheat accross state lines for seed.
However, this farmer not only DIDN'T cross state lines, he used it on his own land within the same county.
Hell hath no fury like a Fed spurned.
The Feds took it up the court ladder, eventually to SCOTUS. SCOTUS was corrupt way back then already, and ruled that the farmer was in fact engaged in interstate commerce.
The interstate commerce clause has been successfully used by the Feds ever since.
I welcome anyone with a better understanding to correct any errors I've made.
once i had read that there were multiple assailants involved, I couldn't figure out what his options would be if one was coming from behind - release suspect 1 and face suspect 2+, knock suspect 1 unconscoius with butt of gun and turn to face 2+? Not much of a choice.
Facts may or may not come out later but no one has discussed or suggested presence of a weapon other than the campus cop's.
Jenkins fired his gun into the air. Is that standard operating procedure for officers?
If you look at the slideshow, the 2d picture shows a guy with a football jersey on. The word is that this guy tried to get Officer Jenkins away from the kid in the first picture. He was shot in the leg.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions.
First of all, this guy is being identified as ATF or BATF, which would mean he was a member of a federal agency.
That is not correct.
He was a member of a state of Florida agency with enforcement powers relating to alcohol and tobacco restraints, consumption, taxation.
They do quite often work in a plain clothing situation, although, if memory serves, some of them do wear a uniform.
In any event, whether federal level or state level, or even municipalities, a plain cloths enforcement agent is trained very specifically to not get into a confrontational situation if there is any doubt that his authority will be suspect by those around him, or if he suspects in the least that he will not/cannot be backed up immediately by uniformed agents or officers.
I spent a number of years working plain cloths in a revenue enforcement capacity and at no time did I confront a subject on my own, even when there was a risk of "losing" the subject.
I was challenged on several occasions by uniformed officers and my response was to immediately and thoroughly comply with every order given.
The truth will out and it didn't hurt my pride a bit to have to hug the ground or tolerate the cuffs for the short amount of time that it took to establish my authority.
The arrest of a thug at the expense of my life is simply not worth it.
And the uniformed officer has no idea as to who is who, unless he is acquainted with the plain clothed agent on a personal basis.
But far be it from me to criticize the actions of either the plain clothed undercover or the uniformed officer that shot him, as I was not there and have no personal knowledge of the situation.
Until you have walked in the shoes of someone else...etc.
I will say that my work in plain clothed situations convinced me that any and all confrontations with citizens should be done by clearly identifiable, uniformed officers with a polite but firm demeanor.
Leave the plain cloths in an "informant" capacity, to observe and document for presentation in a court room, if need be.
Even today, retired after 20 years of MP duty and almost 10 more years of civilian LE, I resent the hell out of some yahoo coming up to me and flashing a badge, all the while dressed in blue jeans and polo shirt, with running shoes on.
Some undercover and plain clothed LEOs just do not have the mental acuity or the humble grace to realize that being assigned that type of duty is not a recognition of how big their gonads are.
And no matter if one is plain clothed or uniformed or just Mr. Joe A. Citizen, one never, I say again, never fires a warning shot.
If a round goes off, particularly if fired by a POSTed LEO, it better lodge itself in a thug and without none of that "shoot him in the hand and make him drop his weapon" crap, either.
Nah, I don't think that is conducive to public safety or good civil order.
This is not the middle east, guns are not normally recklessly fired into the air.
Had I been in that crowd, I "might" have taken a pot shot at the undercover ATF guy myself, just as a civic duty.
Please read my post at #31.
This guy was not an undercover ATF agent.
This was STATE ATF, not feds....
AGain - not the Feds...it was a STATE ATF officer. If there has been a large problem with underage drinking, the University may very well have asked for help from this STATE agency - and wouldn't be all that unusual of a request.
thanks for your informed reply
"But far be it from me to criticize the actions of either the plain clothed undercover or the uniformed officer that shot him, as I was not there and have no personal knowledge of the situation.
Until you have walked in the shoes of someone else...etc.
I will say that my work in plain clothed situations convinced me that any and all confrontations with citizens should be done by clearly identifiable, uniformed officers with a polite but firm demeanor."
Especially in a crowd situation, barring truly exceptional circumstances it is hard to imagine a lone plainsclothes campus officer being well advised to pursue a violent confrontation as apparently happened here.
"If a round goes off, particularly if fired by a POSTed LEO, it better lodge itself in a thug and without none of that "shoot him in the hand and make him drop his weapon" crap, either."
The warning shot thing implies to me the guy might have been in over his head and in panic to establish control where he had little. Just a thought, obviously none of us were there, etc., however from a viewpoint of a lifelong owner of arms, the warning shot thing, particularly in the south, is asking for trouble if you aren't CLEARLY in uniform.
"I spent a number of years working plain cloths in a revenue enforcement capacity and at no time did I confront a subject on my own, even when there was a risk of "losing" the subject.:"
Just curious, but was this as customs or as atf, or other agency? I have had a number of dealings with US customs and with 1 exception have found them to be VERY professional. A majority are apparently ex-military and in general have been very reasonable. I think it is the only government-entity I actually get any pleasure out of dealing with.
"
I don't have a major problem with that. He is a cop, and Orlando is not New Orleans. ;^)
And the day any DA gives me the same benefit of doubt they give a uniformed LEO, is the day I want a retainer fee and retirement plan!
I do not have any particular "issues" with FDLE or OPD.
I am not aware of any systemic police corruption, and I lived in Florida for over seventeen years."
I think there are issues with the new law which need to be clarified with regard to non-identified PCLEO's. Apparently almost all the details of this incident are not public, but at some point a PC officer is going to end up being the victim of an incident in which a citizen was acting in apparent compliance since the LEO was in no way visible to the citizen from his angle of view identifiable as such.
There is a reason agencies such as ATF, federal marshalls, DEA, and so many others have their officers at least wear shirts with 'XYZ" in very big letters, front and back.
It seems excessive for an undercover officer to start firing his weapon because of a few drunk guys tailgating. I wonder if the officer had any liquor in him at the time...
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