After reviewing the shooting of a black Gainesville teenager by law enforcement, an Alachua County grand jury ruled that although the shooting was lawful, it could have been avoided.
Filed in court Sept. 27, the jury’s report — released Thursday — details the March 20 shooting of Robert Dentmond, a 16-year-old who threatened to kill himself with an assault rifle at Majestic Oaks Apartments, located in Alachua County.
After Dentmond refused commands to drop the weapon, which turned out to be fake, nine Alachua County Sheriff's Office deputies and Gainesville Police officers opened fire.
In its review, the jury expressed concern that many of the shots fired at Dentmond struck vehicles and apartment units.
It recommended both agencies study the feasibility of establishing a command chain in the case of firing weapons at suspects, and that decisions to send groups of officers to a scene should be made on a case-by-case basis instead of automatically, as it was in Dentmond’s case.
In its research, the jury looked over all local police-involved shootings since 2001, a total of 16 incidents. In at least 14, the person shot had a known or diagnosed mental-health disorder.
Both agencies were encouraged to continue training on defusing mental-health-related situations.
“The death of Robert Dentmond was tragic, and as the members of the Grand Jury have expressed, avoidable,” Sheriff Sadie Darnell said in a statement. “It is also tragic that law enforcement personnel were placed in an untenable situation which we all dread.”
