SHORT STORY: Off duty officer driving personal vehicle with a friend was cut off in traffic in another jurisdiction by suspect vehicle and exchanged angry words. The suspect vehicle did a u-turn and passed the officer’s vehicle at a stop sign firing 2 rounds at the officer as he went by. Officer followed suspect vehicle to obtain a license plate number. He initially lost the vehicle in a cul de sac, then saw the vehicle backing out and coming toward him. The officer exited his vehicle. The suspect pointed a gun out of the vehicle (denied) and accelerated toward officer in an attempt to hit him (admitted). The officer redeployed and fired 5 shots at the suspect from behind another car. The suspect sideswiped the officers car and escaped. He was later captured. No gun was found, but he had gunshot residue on his hands and neck. BOPC FINDINGS: AD Tactics and AD U of F: Tactics: (1) followed an armed suspect rather than notifying local jurisdiction; (2) did not notify jurisdiction until after OIS; (3) lack of reverence for life because he followed an armed suspect with another civilian in the officer’s vehicle as a passenger; (4) left cover when he exited his vehicle; U of F: (1) round one was in policy since it was in response to suspect pointing a gun at officer, but rounds 2-4 were out of policy because the vehicle was moving away from the officer and violated the prohibition against shooting at moving vehicles; (2) when the vehicle was moving away from the officer, there was no longer a imminent threat of danger.
