Jacksonville Sheriff releases video of fatal police shooting

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has released bodycam footage of an officer fatally shooting a man after he fled police with an apparent weapon.

Sheriff TK Waters released the video Thursday after community groups demanded to see the footage. The department typically releases body cameras within 21 days of a shooting, but this one was released after a week.

DeJuane Aki Haden, 30, died in the Oct. 10 shooting.

At least one community organization still plans to rally outside the sheriff’s office on Saturday.

How the shooting happened

Hayden, 30, was fatally shot during a police chase through apartment complexes on Justina Road, the sheriff’s office said.

Officers were conducting surveillance on known gang members in Arlington when they said they saw three men “brandishing weapons and conducting drug deals,” the sheriff’s office said. Officers arrested two of them, but Hayden ran and Officer Bradley Griffitts pursued him.

Griffitts’ bodycam video shows what appears to be a gun in Hayden’s hand as he runs. The gun fell to the ground after Griffitts shot him four times.

When Griffitts told the man to stop, he stood up, showed his hands and ran away. Another officer found him lying on the front step of a nearby home with a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers gave him first aid, but he was taken to a hospital and died.

The Jacksonville Community Action Committee requested the sheriff’s office release the body camera footage on Oct. 16. Members continue to plan a rally at the sheriff’s office on East Bay Street at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“JSO has finally released the body camera footage of Officer Bradley Griffitts, who shot and killed Dejuane “Woo” Hayden last Thursday. Justice must be served!,” the group said in a Facebook post. “We will continue to rally outside the JSO building downtown and call for charges against Griffitts, who has a history of officer-involved shootings. Killer cops should be charged and not given paid leave!”

In May 2020, Griffitts was one of six Jacksonville officers who shot and killed Felipe Pereira following a domestic disturbance in Fort Caroline. Pereira had reportedly argued with his girlfriend and fired a gun into a sofa before the sheriff’s office was called.

In July 2021, District Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office concluded that the shooting was justified and did not file charges.

Before the shooting

Hayden was part of a now-disbanded gang that was targeted as part of the Sheriff’s Office’s Operation Rap in 2018, which focused on convicted felons who displayed weapons in music videos on social media, according to Chief Mike Shell, who said Video released on Thursday narrated critical incident briefing.

On Oct. 10, officers from a police task force monitored “known” and “former” gang members displaying weapons outside a convenience store on Justina Road, Shell said. One of those men was Hayden, a convicted felon, so it was illegal for him to own a gun, Shell said.

Surveillance camera video later showed Hayden running past the store as officers confronted the group.

A Facebook Live video circulating on social media showed some men joking and talking before police arrived. At some point a patrol car drives by and a police officer with a gun walks by.

A task force officer yells, “Get on the ground,” and another man says, “They just shot my little brother!”

The sheriff’s office said the video does not depict the events leading up to Hayden’s shooting. It was not shot at the actual location and does not show the shooting itself.

Hayden’s brother Brandon Boyd is shown in handcuffs. He was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, armed possession of marijuana and displaying a firearm, jail records show.

A search of the area uncovered a $10 bill with a white powder on it that tested positive for the drug MDMA, police said. A handgun was found in a nearby vehicle. Officers said they saw someone put it there earlier.

Prosecutors will examine whether the officer acted unlawfully in the shooting. Then the Sheriff’s Office Review Board will open an administrative investigation to determine whether he complied with police policy.