Jacksonville Sheriff's Office briefing on Hardy Street shooting: transcript

Key points

• Officers responded to a residential burglary on West 2nd Street, and GPS tracking of a stolen smartwatch led them to Hardy Street.
• Officers found a bicycle matching the suspect's, learned Leon Burroughs lived in a vehicle on the property, and saw him sleeping inside.
• Burroughs was asked several times to show his hands and exit the vehicle, then fired a handgun at an officer, and five officers returned fire.
• One officer was grazed on the face, and SWAT later approached the vehicle and found Burroughs had died.
• Detectives found his firearm, a matching shell casing and the stolen smartwatch in the vehicle.
• The State Attorney's Office will review the shooting, followed by a JSO administrative review by a Response to Resistance Review Board.

Chapters

1. 0:07Opening of the critical incident briefing
2. 1:27Timeline: burglary report and tracking the smartwatch
3. 2:25Officers find Burroughs and plan to engage him
4. 4:33Body-camera footage of the shooting
5. 6:43Aftermath, evidence and medical care for the officer
6. 7:16State Attorney and administrative investigations

Full transcript

0:07I'm Sheriff T.K. Waters. This is a critical incident community briefing by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Our agency has prepared this briefing consistent with this administration's commitment to openness and transparency to the public that we serve. Now, the Chief of Professional Standards will deliver the currently available information pertaining to this critical incident. I'm Chris Brown, the Chief of Professional Standards for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Today we're releasing information regarding an officer-involved shooting that occurred in the 1800 block of Hardy Street in Jacksonville, Florida on January 20th, 2023.

0:42You will see video footage and other currently available information related to the case, all of which will provide you with a better understanding of what happened. When investigating an incident like this, investigators must often interview numerous witnesses, review many hours of video footage, and analyze a significant amount of forensic evidence. These investigations can often take up to a year or more to complete. As such, we are still at the very early stages of this investigation, so our understanding of this incident may change as additional evidence is collected and reviewed. We do not draw any conclusions regarding whether the officers acted appropriately with respect to the law or JSO policy until all of the facts are known and the investigation is completed.

1:27The officer-involved shooting on Hardy Street resulted in the death of Leon Burroughs. Burroughs was 39 years of age at the time of his death. I'm going to share the timeline of events that led to the officer-involved shooting on January 20, 2023. We are sharing this information to provide the public with a complete understanding of what information was known to law enforcement as they made critical decisions during their interactions with him on that day. In the early evening hours of January 20, 2023, officers responded to a residential burglary in the 1700 block of West 2nd Street. A witness provided a physical description of the burglary suspect, a black male with dark skin and high cheekbones wearing a black hoodie, a black jacket and a black skullcap who left the area on a black bicycle. Officers learned that the victim's smart watch had been stolen and that the victim was able to remotely determine through GPS tracking that the smartwatch was in the 1800 block of Hardy Street.

2:25Additional officers went to the location on Hardy Street, where they observed a bicycle matching the description of the one used in the burglary. Officers learned from a family member that Burroughs owned this bicycle and that he was living in a vehicle on the property. Officers located the vehicle and observed Burroughs sleeping inside. They saw a handgun resting on top of the vehicle, which they secured in a safe location, while while also discussing a plan to engage in dialogue with Burroughs. How do you know him? Ma'am? Okay. Is the door unlocked? Is that gun unlocked? Okay, so move the gun at least to the trunk and then we'll do on three. We'll just open that door and this door at the same time.

3:42Officers opened doors to the vehicle and attempted to talk to Burroughs. Burroughs was asked multiple times to show his hands and to exit the vehicle. Instead of complying, Burroughs pulled out a gun and shot at one of the officers. Five officers immediately returned gunfire. The following footage, which shows Burroughs firing his handgun and officers returning fire, was captured by the body-worn cameras of two officers involved in the incident. Again, I urge viewer discretion as this video does depict officer's use of deadly force.

4:33Leon, wake up, buddy. Wake up, man. Keep your hands up. Wake up. Sheriff's office. Wake up, buddy. Put your hands up so we can see them. Put your hands up so I can see them. I'll talk to you in a second. Step out. Step out, man. Step out. Can you get the lights out of my face so I can see what's going on? Hey, Leon? Sir, can you get the lights out of my faces? They're out of your face. Step out. Let me see what's going on.

5:04They're not in your face. They're still flying with the lights. Leon, step out of the car. Step out. Step out or we're going to pull you out. Step. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. Cease fire!

5:36HQ shots fired by police. Shots fired for police. I've been hit. Start rescue 1068. I don't know. Hey, come with me. This second footage was captured by the body-worn camera of an officer who is positioned at the rear of the vehicle.

6:06In this footage, the muzzle flash of the gunshot fired by Burroughs is visible inside the vehicle. Leon, step out of the car. Step out or we're going to pull you out. Step. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. Fire! She's fired! HQ shots fired by police shots fired. Let me see your hands.

6:43One officer was grazed on his face by the gunshot fired by Burroughss. Officers immediately moved to a position of cover and began to provide medical care to the injured officer. Burroughs was still inside of the vehicle after the exchange of gunfire. Officers maintained safe positions around the vehicle until the arrival of the SWAT unit. With the use of specialized equipment, officers were able to safely approach the vehicle occupied by Burroughs.

7:16Upon completing that approach, officers learned that Burroughs had died following the exchange of gunfire. Inside the vehicle, detectives located the firearm that Burroughs used to shoot at the officers, as well as a shell casing. Forensic analysis confirmed that the located casing came from Burroughs' firearm, along with the smartwatch stolen during the burglary inside of the vehicle. An independent investigation and review of the actions of the officers will be conducted by the State Attorney's Office. The State Attorney's Office will decide whether all actions taken by the officers were lawful.

7:49After the conclusion of the criminal investigation by the State Attorney's Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office will begin an administrative investigation into the officers' actions to determine if they were within agency policy. This begins with the convening of a Response to Resistance Review Board in which officers are compelled to provide testimony about their actions during the incident. The Response to Resistance Review Board will then decide whether the officers violated any policy during the incident. The determinations made by that board will be submitted to the sheriff for review and a final decision. As stated earlier, JSO does not draw conclusions about the officers conduct with regards to the law or our policies until the investigation has been completed. On behalf of Sheriff Waters and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, thank you for your time and attention.

Source and licence

Recording: File:Bodycam footage in Jacksonville officer-involved shooting.webm by City of Jacksonville (2023-02-07), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.