A man will not be charged after fatally shooting another man in front of his girlfriend and son at a Florida convenience store during an argument over a handicapped parking spot, because of the state’s Stand Your Ground law, according to authorities.
The case, which has sparked growing criticism on social media, will instead be sent to the state attorney’s office for further review, said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri during a news conference on Friday.
Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, established in 2005, grants residents the right to use force if they reasonably believe they are at risk of great harm or death.
On Thursday shortly after 3 p.m., Michael Drejka, 47, got into a shouting match with a woman named Britany Jacobs who sat inside a car parked at a handicapped spot outside of a small food store in Clearwater, Florida, a city less than 30 miles from Tampa, Gualtieri said. Drejka frequently visited the store and was angry over her use of the parking spot without a legal permit, Gualtieri said.
Surveillance video showed Drejka moments later being approached by Markeis McGlockton, Jacob’s 28-year-old boyfriend, who was inside of the store shopping with their son, Markeis McGlockton Jr., 5.
“McGlockton approached Drejka - he didn’t waste anytime getting to him - and then he pushed him,” Gualtieri said, adding that there was no verbal exchange between the two men. “And he pushed him with great force. This was a violent push.”
The video can be found in this article: https://globalnews.ca/news/4345444/flor ... round-law/
Right... so, a guy is saying who-knows-what at a woman in a car because the guy is unhappy about the car she is in being parked in a spot reserved for disabled folks. I'm sure the guy is being very brave, manly, even, in the course of that discussion. He could have taken a picture of the car, or called whatever equates to bylaw officers in Florida (they probably carry machine guns, for everyone's safety and comfort, while writing parking tickets) but he decided to have a discussion with the woman in the car.
The woman's boyfriend walks out of the store, just as the woman (his girlfriend) is stepping out of the car, and gives the shooter a pretty solid shove.
At this point, I have to say, if someone were getting in my wife's face, I'd likely not immediately go to, "I need to push this guy to the ground as hard as I can," but, the thought would certainly be there. Make a note, people - don't mess with Mrs. Blehblah.
As the shooter is on the ground, he pulls his very legal concealed handgun out. Naturally, the soon-to-be-shot guy backs off, as one tends to do when having a firearm pointed at oneself. It could have ended there. It should not have got to there, but there it was. Feeling threatened, or maybe horny, or itchy, or something, the discussion-prone guy on the ground shoots the man in the chest. The shot guy runs into the store, where his five year-old is. The guy dies soon after.
As you can see from the articles, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri figures, "seems legit".
I wonder what would have happened had the girlfriend stepped out of the car, and felt threatened; threatened enough to qualify for "stand your ground", because threat is in the eye of the beholder. She pulls a gun and shoots the man who is accosting her. Alternatively, what if the boyfriend had walked out of the store, observed a man accosting his girlfriend, and pulled a gun? Is that standing his ground?
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/regi ... ence-store
Drejka responded by taking out a pistol and shooting McGlockton in the chest. McGlockton ran back into the store where his five-year-old son was standing at the front door, watching the entire incident happen right before his eyes. McGlockton fell to the ground inside of the store and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
[...]
Drejka is a legal concealed weapons permit holder and will not be charged because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
The store owner tells ABC Action News that Drejka has a history of assaulting people in the very parking lot the shooting took place. A man who frequents the store told ABC Action News he had a run-in with the man who opened fire just one month ago.
Rich Kelly says the man picked a fight with him over a parking spot, using racial slurs, and even threatening to kill him. Now, a month later, a similar case, ending with a father killed in front of his 5-year-old son.
What the fuck, Florida? This is murder, or at least manslaughter.