Video: Deputy Fires At Unarmed Suspect, Apparently Mistaking Acorn For Gunshot

Body camera video released Monday shows a Florida sheriff’s deputy shooting at an unarmed suspect locked inside of a patrol vehicle after the officer was apparently startled by a falling acorn, authorities said.

The footage shows the Okaloosa County deputy responding to a reported vehicle theft in the Fort Walton Beach area on Nov. 12 when he began firing, according to an internal investigation report released last week.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” the deputy, Jesse Hernandez, is heard yelling, despite suffering no gunshot injuries.

Hernandez expended his ammunition while shooting at his patrol vehicle and taking cover. His partner, Sgt. Beth Roberts, reacted to his cries of “shots fired” by also shooting at the patrol vehicle containing suspect Marquis Jackson, according to the internal report.

Jackson was found uninjured in Hernandez’s vehicle, and no weapon was located in his possession. The two officers were cleared of criminal wrongdoing following the internal investigation, though Hernandez was determined to have violated policy, authorities said. He resigned from the force in December amid the probe.

“Though his actions were ultimately not warranted, we do believe he felt his life was in immediate peril and his response was based off the totality of circumstances surrounding this fear,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said of Hernandez in a statement.

The officers were investigating the reported vehicle theft when they were told by the vehicle’s owner that Jackson possessed multiple weapons and a gun silencer, according to the bodycam video and internal report.

Jackson was handcuffed and seen being searched by both officers before being placed in the back of the patrol vehicle. It was when Hernandez returned to his