Escambia Deputy Cleared In Grocery Store Shooting

October 14, 2019

An Escambia County deputy has been cleared in the August shooting of a suspect at a grocery store.

The State Attorney’s Office found an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant feared for his life when he shot Reginald Lee Booker, 29, at the Grocery Advantage on Lillian Highway on August 15. Booker remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $727,000.

Booker walked into the store and took the store phone before firing one shot inside the store’s produce section.

The ECSO lieutenant and other deputy entered the store as people were rushing outside. The deputies found Booker in the produce section with a gun. He ignored commands and fled through a set of double door and was pursued to the loading dock in the back of the store, according to the SAO report.

In an area of the back stacked with boxes and crates that provided Booker a place to hide, deputies again ordered him to show his hands. Booker raised the gun and pointed the gun at the lieutenant. The deputy, fearing for his life, fired three or four times, striking Booker several times, the report states. Booker was transported to Baptist Hospital were he underwent treatment.

Booker told the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conflicting stories about what happened. He told them he did not have anything in his hands, but the police shot him. During a second interview, he stated he ran into the store because he was being chased by five black males, and he claimed he put the gun down in the produce area and denied firing a shot.

A shell casing from Booker’s gun was found in the produce section, and his .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered in the back of the store. Surveillance video also contradicts Booker’s claims, FDLE said. However, there was no video of the shooting in the back of the store.

The FDLE investigation found the deputies attempted to apprehend Booker without the use of deadly force, and Booker’s statements were not consistent with video evidence or statements by witnesses.

NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Escambia Deputy Cleared In Grocery Store Shooting”

  1. chris on October 14th, 2019 7:13 pm

    Go to the store for fruit and leave with lead.

  2. mike on October 14th, 2019 6:14 pm

    Great work officer! :)

  3. Rick Livesay on October 14th, 2019 4:38 pm

    Dude wanted some fruit!!!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News