Officer not at fault in shooting
Winter Park cop did not violate law when he killed man at wedding, report says
No criminal charges will be brought against the officer who shot and killed a man last year at a wedding in Winter Park, the Police Department said Wednesday.
The agency said it received a final report from the State Attorney’s Office on Tuesday determining that the officer involved did not violate Florida law.
Representatives at the State’s Attorney Office did not respond to a message seeking comment on its review of the shooting.
Daniel Knight, 39, was gunned down by police at the Winter Park Events Center last February. Shots were fired less than two minutes after officers arrived at the scene in response to a 911 call describing a man who was “irate” and “violent.”
Knight’s family has denied that description of him.
Police said they were trying to separate Knight, who was drunk, from another guest when they arrived on scene. Body camera footage showed the guest was his sister, who was pleading with officers not to escalate the situation when the officer tried to pull her away from Knight.
“Don’t you snatch my [expletive] sister,” Knight said before punching the officer. The WPPD said the officer lost consciousness from the strike delivered by Knight before a second officer stunned Knight with a Taser. Police said Knight then attacked the second officer and knocked him to the ground. That officer then fired seven shots, hitting Knight multiple times.
The officers, whose names are concealed due to Marsy’s Law, were placed on administrative leave at the time and have since returned to duty, according to Lt. Lisa Suepat.
Suepat told the Orlando Sentinel the agency allowed both officers to return to work based on the preliminary report it received from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The WPPD has not yet completed its own internal investigation of the incident.
Suepat declined further comment on the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
The WPPD announcement came a day after Guy Rubin, an attorney representing Knight’s family, said at a press conference he believed that charges for the killing were “highly unlikely”
and accused authorities of hiding behind “a blue wall of corruption.”
Surrounded by more than two dozen of Knight’s friends and relatives, Rubin also announced an impending lawsuit.
“[Knight] was provoked ... that is what caused the situation to escalate out of hand,” Rubin said.
“It’s the police and their training that have the responsibility to maintain control over a situation so it doesn’t get out of hand, and that was turned completely upside down.”