Expert weighs in on ‘justified’ police shooting of Christopher Jordan

The state attorney’s office has cleared Fort Myers police after an officer shot and killed Christopher Jordan in his own home.

After five months of investigating, the state attorney’s office said the Fort Myers police officer who fired this deadly shot was justified.

• READ MORE: SAO: FMPD ‘justified’ in shooting Christopher Jordan

We spoke with Dr. David Thomas – a forensic studies professor from FGCU and a former officer – who supports the idea of officer-involved shooting investigations going to a grand jury.

He said if the grand jury chooses not to indict, that only confirms the state attorney’s decision. Thomas said it also shifts the burden and pushback away from the state attorney’s office and onto the jury, which ultimately decides whether or not charges are appropriate.

If someone makes a claim that you have a gun, is that enough to justify the use of deadly force against you?

Thomas said, ‘No, it’s not.’

However, he said that if that’s the only information responding officers have, they have to act as if that’s the case until they can prove otherwise.

“Dispatch does everything they can to try to get the best information from callers, and so that’s what officers have to go on, and until they make some sort of determination, and usually doesn’t change,” Thomas said.

You don’t have to have a degree in psychology to realize Jordan was having a mental health crisis.

He was literally begging police to shoot him – even playing sounds of automatic gunfire. From the 911 call to the use of deadly force, less than one hour had elapsed, so why were no mental health experts called in who could have helped de-escalate the situation?

Dr. Thomas said crisis intervention training varies by city and county. In some scenarios, Thomas said each officer receives crisis intervention training. In other departments, there are a handful of designated specialists.

We don’t know the level of crisis intervention training each of the officers at the Stella Street Scene had, and Thomas said it’s possible some or all of the officers there had that kind of training.

“When I used to work, I was a hostage negotiator, so every one of these calls like this as a negotiator I got sent to because I had specialized training to be able to deal with people in crisis, so there’s no hard and fast rule,” Thomas said.

Was the shooting justified?

Seconds before the officer fired the fatal bullet, he shouted that he had a gun in his hand, at which point he shot and killed Jordan.

FDLE conducted a search of the home but never found a firearm inside.

A statement from the officer who killed Jordan reveals he believes he saw Jordan point a black handgun at the officers who were not behind cover.

Thomas said deadly force is justified when there is an imminent threat of death or serious harm.

Thomas isn’t the only one who thinks this should’ve gone to a grand jury. In fact, one of our local leaders, who used to be a police officer, agrees.

Fort Myers Councilman Johnny Streets said in part, “My only concern coming from the law enforcement background is that I believe this case should’ve gone in front of a grand jury.”