Jacksonville sheriff releases video of fatal police shooting

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has released bodycam footage of an officer fatally shooting a man after the suspect ran from police holding a gun.

Sheriff T.K. Waters released the video Thursday after community groups demanded to see the footage. The department usually releases bodycams within 21 days of a shooting, but this one was released after a week.

Dejuane Aki Haden, 30, died in the shooting Oct. 10.

Attorneys for Haden’s family accused police Friday of gunning down a man without cause. At least one community organization still intends to rally at the Sheriff’s Office on Saturday.

How the shooting happened

Hayden, 30, was fatally shot during a police chase through apartment complexes on Justina Road, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Officers were conducting surveillance on known gang members in Arlington when they say they saw three men “flashing guns and making drug transactions.” The officers took two of them into custody, but Hayden ran and Officer Bradley Griffitts chased him.

Griffitts’ bodycam video shows what looks like a gun in Hayden’s hand as he ran. The gun fell to the ground after Griffitts shot him four times.

As Griffitts told the man to stop, he got up, showed his hands and ran away. Another officer found him lying on the front steps of a nearby home with a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers gave him first aid, but he was taken to a hospital and died.

The attorney for Haden’s family, Harry Daniels, said Friday that the shooting “creates a dangerous precedent for every Floridian.”

Daniels said Haden never pointed a gun at Griffitts.

“Despite what the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office wants to believe, they don’t get to kill anyone who has a gun,” Daniels said in a news release. “The fact is that Dejuane was running away. … He posed no threat.”

The Jacksonville Community Action Committee demanded Oct. 16 that the Sheriff’s Office release the bodycam footage. Members plan to rally at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sheriff’s Office on East Bay Street.

“JSO has finally released of the body camera footage of officer Bradley Griffitts shooting and killing Dejuane “Woo” Hayden last Thursday. Justice must be served!,” the group said in Facebook post. “We will still rally at the downtown JSO Building demanding the indictment of Griffitts, who has a history of officer-involved shootings. Killer cops should be indicted, not given paid leave!”

In May 2020, Griffitts was one of six Jacksonville officers who shot and killed Felipe Pereira after a domestic disturbance in Fort Caroline. Pereira reportedly had argued with his girlfriend and fired a gun into a couch before the Sheriff’s Office was called.

In July 2021, State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office concluded the shooting was justified and did not bring charges.

Before the shooting

Hayden was part of a now-defunct gang targeted in the Sheriff’s Office’s 2018 Operation Rap, which focused on convicted felons who were displaying guns posted in music videos on social media, according to Chief Mike Shell, who narrates the video released Thursday, called a Critical Incident Briefing.

On Oct. 10, officers in a police task force were doing surveillance on “known” and “former” gang members who were showing off guns in front of a convenience store on Justina Road, Shell said. One of those men was Hayden, a convicted felon, so it was illegal for him to have a gun, Shell said.

Security camera video later caught Hayden running past the store when officers confronted the group.

A Facebook live video circulated on social media showed some men joking and talking before the police arrived. At one point, a police cruiser passes and a police officer with a gun walks by.

A task force officer yells “get on the ground,” and another man is heard saying, “They just shot my little brother!”

The Sheriff’s Office said the video does not represent the events that led to Hayden’s shooting. It was not recorded at the actual shooting scene and does not show the shooting itself.

Hayden‘s brother Brandon Boyd is shown in handcuffs. He was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, armed possession of marijuana and exhibition of a firearm, jail records show.

A search of the area found a $10 bill with a white powder on it that tested positive for the drug MDMA, police said. A handgun was found inside a nearby vehicle. Officers say they saw someone put it there earlier.

The State Attorney‘s Office will review whether the officer acted illegally in the shooting. Then the Sheriff’s Office review board will begin an administrative investigation to determine whether his complied with police policy.

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