Father of man fatally shot by police wants answers

The father of a man shot and killed by Orlando police in October raised concerns during a Citizen’s Review Board meeting Wednesday over the officers’ use of force against his son and their failure to capture the shooting on body cameras.

Brian Baker, 33, was fatally shot at Orlando Regional Medical Center Oct. 1 after police said he told them he had a gun and would shoot whoever came near him.

None of the three Orlando officers who fired shots had a working body camera during the incident, but OPD has said other police at the scene as well as hospital cameras did capture the incident.

“I feel like the body cam issue is a big issue in Orlando right now, and it really needs to be addressed,” said Darren Baker, Brian Baker’s father, during the public comment portion of the meeting. “That’s three views that I needed to see.”

Following the shooting, OPD spokeswoman Michelle Guido said one officer who fired shots was a K9 officer who was not issued a body camera. Another was a patrol officer who was also a member of the SWAT team. When he put his SWAT gear over his regular uniform, the camera was covered.

The third officer had just come off a 12-hour shift and the body camera battery was dead.

“That’s another question — an officer coming off a 12-hour shift with over 20 responding units and they choose to have that officer approach my son?” Darren Baker said.

Officers shot Brian Baker after he made a move toward his waistband, then-Chief John Mina told reporters. The man was unarmed. “He was a patient in a hospital. He allegedly made threats; I understand that. He could have put other people in danger, I do understand that,” Darren Baker said. “But at the same time, he had mental issues, he went to the hospital for help and he didn’t receive it.”

Darren Baker said the agency didn’t contact him to offer condolences after the shooting.

“It’s like I’ve got the plague,” he said.

“I just want to know why my son’s dead, and I can walk out the door.”

Following Baker’s five-minute allotted speaking time, newly appointed Police Chief Orlando Rolón — who was also at the meeting — stepped outside the city council chambers with him.

“I wanted to apologize to him to let him know, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that was the case. Hopefully that will never happen again,’” Rolón said after the meeting.

Rolón said he also explained to Baker the next steps in the investigation and told him he would keep him informed of developments. The case has been handed over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review and the three officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.

“I told him every indication right now is that everything done there was justified, so we have no reason to believe that it wasn’t,” Rolón said. to speak