This is precisely (and unfortunately) why you can't make any sudden moves around police officers. Your life depends on it. On Saturday morning, 60-year-old Ray Middleton was shot while reaching into his car which was parked in the front yard of his Warrington, Fla. home. Middleton was apparently trying to grab a pack of cigarettes and a neighbor who didn't recognize him called 911, sending police to the scene to investigate a burglary.
When deputies from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office arrived, they ordered Middleton to slowly back away from the vehicle with his hands in the air. Middleton says that as he turned around to face police, they unleashed a hail of bullets upon him.
Seven shots were fired; five struck the car and the side of Middleton's home where his mother was asleep. One bullet struck Middleton in the leg. A teenage girl who witnessed the shooting told PNJ that deputies opened fire without warning. “He wasn’t belligerent or anything,“ she said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident, and each of the deputies are on paid administrative leave. The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has refused to comment on the matter. Middleton remains in the hospital.
This shoot first, ask questions last—or never—incident is why you have to be conscious of your every move around police.
