Chilling video captures Florida police officer shot in throat

Publish date: 2024-08-24

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Chilling body camera video captured the moment a Florida police officer yelled, “I’ve been shot in the throat!” during a shootout with a suspicious driver who died outside a hospital.

The incident in Jacksonville began about 9:30 p.m. April 18, when off-duty Officer Taylor Smith was working security at Baptist Medical Center South and noticed a man driving in repeated circles through the parking lot, the Florida Times-Union reported.

The newly released footage shows Smith trying to stop the Chevy Impala, but the driver, Jeffrey Alan Martin, 38, refuses and yells, “Shoot it! Shoot it!”

The officer is heard shouting the code for a gun, “He’s got a zero!”

Martin opens fire while he slowly drives toward two police vehicles as they try to ram him during the violent confrontation.

“I rammed it,” an officer is heard saying on the radio. “He’s coming back around again. … He’s coming up behind me now. Hey, he’s coming up behind me fast! Move out of my way, I think he’s trying to get me.”

Martin tries to drive out of the parking lot as the officers try to block him.

Jacksonville Police Officer Taylor Smith and several of his partners chased Jeffrey Alan Martin, 38, in the parking lot of Baptist Medical Center South, where he opened fire and hit the cop in the throat. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
“I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot in the throat!” Smith is heard shouting. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

“You all need to take him out!” a supervisor says on the radio.

After the suspect crashes, Smith approaches the car with his gun drawn.

“He’s got something in his hand,” he yells right before the driver shoots him.

He returns fire and calls out to the five other officers, who shoot and kill the gunman.

“I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot,” Smith can be heard yelling. “I’ve been shot in the throat!”

Smith suffered a non-life-threatening injury and is recovering. Signal 34 Foundation Inc.

Another officer then rushes over to administer first aid to his colleague.

“He is truly blessed to have not been fatally injured in this shooting,” Randy Reaves, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 5-30, told the Florida Times-Union. “Right now he is making what will hopefully be a full recovery.”

Police found a 9mm handgun and four spent casings under the gunman’s legs, as well as an AK-47 assault rifle with three fully loaded magazines in the Impala’s trunk.

The 9mm handgun recovered from the shooter’s car. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
Police also found an AK-47 in the trunk of the Chevy Impala. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

Martin had some traffic citations dating back to 2004 but no criminal offenses prior to the shooting, the news outlet reported, citing Duval County Court records.

His parents told First Coast News he was struggling with mental health issues and depression.

Martin had two children, ages 3 and 9, with his wife, who filed for divorce in February 2022 after about eight years of marriage.

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