Witness says man shot by Orange County deputy had hands up

[Barb135]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/sheriffs-deputy-shoots-man-at-orlando-apartment-complex/30111050

ORLANDO, Fla. -

A witness says a man shot and critically injured by an Orange County sheriff's deputy had his hands up at the time of the shooting.

The deputy-involved shooting took place early Monday at the Timber Sound apartments, south of State Road 408 near South Kirkman Road.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, a car was reported stolen at the Race Trac at 300 N. Kirkman Road.  Deputies found the vehicle at the apartment complex and confronted two men, officials said.

One of the men complied with the deputies' commands, but the other made "extensive furtive movements," causing one of the deputies to fear for his safety and  open fire, the Sheriff's Office said.

A witness questioned why the deputy opened fire.

"You could see right in the car.  Both of them had their hands up and they still shot at the car," said witness Earnest Mills Jr., who added that he had to take cover.  "I was scared for my kids because the way the car was facing any of those bullets could have went anywhere.   I got away from the window.  It kind of shocked me because I've never seen nothing like that before."

Local 6 has asked the Sheriff's Office about the witness' claim that the man had his hands up but has not yet received comment from authorities.

The man who was shot was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and underwent surgery.  He was listed in critical condition, officials said.  The other man was arrested.

The deputies were not injured.  

The deputy who shot the man is a nine-year veteran, the Sheriff's Office said.  He will  be placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in shootings.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct an investigation into the the shooting.

[Barb135]

They better not loot our Walmarts... Shoppers get serious around here, especially at this time of year and Walmart is the # 1 place to shop - open 24/7 and granny in curlers, with Bubba in his sweat pants, will take 'em down in a hurry - no shots fired... lol

[brice1967]

Cop was white, it ain't all right!  "Lets go loot the Walmart!"

If we keep talking about this stuff, we aren't talking about the President.  Keep it up news sources!

[brice1967]

And to think that this all could have been avoided by simply not breaking the law.... weird... just weird.

[hrsepwrguy]

Looks like good ole Al will be heading to Florida then. Somebody has to have sympathy for all gang members who break the law, because is sure isn't me.

[Barb135]

Update... Both suspects in the stolen car were black, the officer who shot was white.  Both suspects had considerable criminal records.  The passenger in the vehicle surrendered without incident.  The driver had initially tried to take off in the car, but was blocked by deputies.  Rather than surrender, he continued to make furtive movements inside the car, which caused the officer (a 9 yr veteran, and supervisor, of the Orange County Sheriff's Department) to fear for his life.  There were multiple deputies at the scene.

[Barb135]

They didn't say the race of either the person shot or the officer who did the shooting.  The incident took place in an apartment complex and the witness was black (the article doesn't say that, but I saw him on the news).  The name of the person shot was Cedric Bartee.

Updates confirm that the witness was in a second floor apartment when the shooting took place.  It was early morning and still dark, so I suppose if a street light were shining just right into/onto the car, he could have seen something the officer couldn't? Maybe??  But it seems like a street light might have reflected off a windshield or other window rather than lighting up the inside of the vehicle.  

Brice - convertible?  Too bad it wasn't; then the officer would have been able to tell what was going on.

There's supposed to be a news conference on the news in a little while.

[el_em_en_oh]

I have a run-in with the police about 2-3 times a year (traffic stops for the most part), and I've never been shot.

Still alive and kicking, I'm happy to report.

Why?

Because when I get pulled over/stopped, I DO WHAT I'M TOLD.

Run, resist, fight back, pull a gun, charge the officer... get taze'd, shot, or wrestled to the ground.

You reap what you sew.

No sympathy for those that resist arrest or fight back, and get shot.

[brice1967]

Oh brother....  If the witness was on the second floor and he could clearly see that both subjects had their hands in the air and weren't doing anything, the guy must have had x-ray vision or the car was a convertible.

These guys are innocent!  Never mind the fact that they were in possession of a stolen car.  That's irrelevant.

(Way more than 319,000,000 Americans did not get shot by cops this year.)

[el_em_en_oh]

They'll run out of protesters soon, as there'll be so many of these shootings to protest over!!!

[Vance2335]

2nd floor and could see hands up and not moving at all...unlikely.

But was the guy shot white or black?

[Barb135]

Here we go again.  From what they said on the news, the witness was watching from his second floor apartment, so that deputy must really have been shooting wildly for the man to fear for the safety of his kids.