Daytona Beach Police Department released this video of their officers engaging a hostage taker on September 25, 2013. The officer involved shooting was captured on a body camera worn by one of the officers. Former New York Giants player Jermaine Lanier Green, 32, was holding his girlfriend at knife point when the officers entered the home.
In reviewing the video of the Daytona Beach OIS, I noted a few things. At the outset, the officers assess the situation from witnesses on scene. The first responders take immediate action based on there being an armed, mentally ill (“Signal 0 with a knife, Signal 20.”) person holding a hostage inside the residence. One witness tells them, “He’s about to kill her.” Upon officers’ entry the suspect shouts, “I’ll harm her!” and retreats into a bedroom. He says, “I got a knife!” The communication between officers appears good and they move deliberately but calmly to the threat. Before they are able to negotiate with the suspect, Green forces them to use deadly force to stop his actions when he actively makes a stabbing motion to the hostage’s chest while holding her down. After the shooting the officers continue covering the suspect as they get the hostage to safety. One officer asks, “Where’s the knife?” and another, who has a visual, replies, “Got it.” The same officer then tells the others to clear the rest of the house.
From having been on many of these types of calls, I know that there was more information available to the officers than what was just seen in the video, such as the pre-arrival radio transmissions of the dispatch and possible prior dealings with the involved parties. The video is edited, so I would certainly not view it as the totality of the circumstances.
According to Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood, “They give him multiple commands, ‘Drop the knife, drop the knife, drop the knife,’ but they were left with no other recourse because you see him start to plunge the knife into her chest and they had no other choice to save her life but to open fire.”
Despite the girlfriend being grazed in the arm by a stray bullet, she later admitted that she thought Green would kill her. She is apparently luck to be alive. The suspect is in critical condition. Charges of kidnapping and aggravated battery are forthcoming. DBPD Ofc’s Richard Maher and Kevin Connelly are on paid administrative leave, pending the investigation, which is being conducted by the FDLE.
Randall
