JSO releases bodycam footage from night officer was grazed by bullet, man was fatally shot by police
By: The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released body-worn camera footage from an evening last month when officers said a man fired a shot that grazed an officer’s face and police returned fire, killing the man.
On Jan. 20, according to JSO, police were investigating a residential burglary on West 2nd Street in which a smartwatch was stolen when officers found Leon Burroughs, 39, asleep in a car on Hardee Street. Police said they arrived at that location by tracking the smartwatch’s GPS. Police said they found a gun on the roof of the car, and an officer moved it to the back of the trunk.
The Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning posted a video on YouTube containing footage that was recorded on police body camera that night.
One video clip is recorded from an officer standing on the driver’s side of the car, next to the open back passenger door. Police are then seen trying to wake Burroughs up, with one officer saying, “Leon, wake up buddy. We need to talk to you.” In the video, they ask him to show his hands, and he asks them to get the lights out of his face.
About 5 minutes and 30 seconds into the nearly 9-minute YouTube video, gunshots can be heard, and officers can be seen firing into the car.
The officer who was wounded says: “I’ve been hit, start Rescue 10-68 (rescue unit needed/appears in acure distress).” Another officer asks, “You good? You good?” He responds “I don’t know.”
JSO then shows a slow-motion version of the video that, according to police, shows the initial shot fired by Burroughs, and the muzzle flash from the weapon can be seen.
Another video clip shows the gunfire from a different perspective. That bodycam footage comes from an officer behind the car.
Toward the end of the YouTube video, police include images of the gun found on the roof of the vehicle and the firearm that was fired at police. There is also a photo of the smartwatch that police said was stolen.
The shooting happened outside Burroughs’ grandmother’s home. His grandmother, Jewel Hill, told News4JAX that she watched the bodycam video Tuesday morning with Burroughs’ father.