Dash-cam video in Florida shows how fast a self-defense shooting can happen, when a Florida Uber driver used a handgun to stop an attack.
Watch the video above for a rundown of the incident. To see the shooting unfold, skip to the nine-minute mark.
Police Response
Sheriff Grady Judd described the scene and the response in video released by the Polk County Sheriffs Department. He also discussed how quickly people must react in a situation, which is shown in the dash-cam video.
Grady called the shooting a classic “stand your ground” case. “This is a justifiable homicide all day long,” Grady said, according to CBS News.
The video shows Jason Boek approaching the car and apparently threatening Robert Westlake, the Florida Uber driver, before being shot and killed. Afterward, Westlake dialed 911 and tried to save Boek.
Grady made it especially clear that he supports law-biding citizens having guns for fighting back against attackers.
“Here’s a message for the hotheads of the community: Don’t do that stuff. Good people carry guns, and they will shoot you a lot. Graveyard dead,” Judd said.
Florida Uber Driver Shooting
According to police, the situation began at a bar in Dundee, about 45 miles south of Orlando, where Boek was drinking with his estranged girlfriend, Jessica Mazzarella. Boek left the bar, but stayed in a borrowed truck watching the bar. Mazzarella helped the bartender get an intoxicated customer into an Uber. Unfortunately, Boek followed the car, thinking she had left in the car.
In the video, Boek then drove past and stopped in front of Westlake, before jumping out and pulling what looked like a gun. He also threatened to shoot the driver. However, Westlake is a recent police academy graduate, and was armed with a legal concealed handgun.
The item Boek pulled was a cell phone, but it was difficult to see in the dark. As such, police are not looking to charge Westlake in the shooting death.
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