Bad drugs blamed for firing at cop’s home

A man who was shot by an Orlando police officer — after firing a gun at the officer’s house in retribution for getting thrown out of a party there — told investigators he had no recollection of the violence and blamed his conduct on drugs he took that night, according to an arrest affidavit.

His only memory, he said, was waking up in the middle of the street, in a pool of his own blood.

In an interview with St. Cloud detectives at a hospital, where he was being treated after the OPD officer shot him, Jhon Escobar, 31, said the aggressive behavior described by authorities and witnesses was “uncharacteristic” of him. He suspected it was bad cocaine that caused him to return to the house after being thrown out and fire at the guests standing outside, according to the affidavit.

The shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. March 1 in the Tohoqua subdivision. Escobar and others had been attending a party in the neighborhood when the wife of OPD Officer Julian Ortiz invited the group to their house down the street, witnesses told detectives.

Not long after the party moved to Ortiz’s house, guests told authorities Escobar became irate after getting into an argument with his girlfriend, which prompted the girlfriend and another couple to leave. When Escobar refused to go, Ortiz and others “had to physically restrain… and remove him from the residence,” according to the affidavit.

As he was leaving, the guests said he yelled, “I’m going to come back and I’m going to kill you.”

Escobar came back shorty after and tried to kick in the front door of Ortiz’s house.

When Ortiz and the other guests came outside, Escobar shot at them and the house, according to police.

One guest who said she ran toward Escobar to calm him down before realizing he had a gun told police she “threw herself on the ground as the bullets flew overhead.”

Ortiz shot back, hitting Escobar multiple times.

Escobar was taken to a hospital, where staff found a baggie of cocaine in his pocket, according to the affidavit. He told police he couldn’t recall anything about the shooting. When a detective asked if he “could have possibly been given a bad quality batch of cocaine” Escobar said that “must be the reason for his actions,” the affidavit states.

Ortiz was placed on administrative leave during a review of his actions by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as is standard. He has worked with OPD since 2017.

Escobar was arrested on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting a missile into an occupied structure, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was booked into the Osceola County Jail, where he remains without bond.