JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The area's top prosecutor called in the media Tuesday saying he wanted to set the record straight about police shootings of suspects in Jacksonville.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein said that calling these shootings justifiable does not tell the whole story.

So far in 2008, there have been nine people shot by officers of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. While Shorstein said all the cases he has investigated were justifiable, that does not mean he believes they were all necessary.

"My findings of justifiable homicides are not findings of approval or acceptance of the shootings," Shorstein said.

Under the law, justifiable means an officer has reason to believe the shooting was necessary to protect himself, Shorstein said.

"It's troubling to me, and I think it's troubling to the public, to know (that) the state attorney is reviewing it, and then for it to be reported that the state attorney agrees, condones, approves -- all of which I think could be ... gleamed by the public when they see the word 'justified.'"

Shorstein said he finds certain cases troubling, like last year's shooting of 80-year-old Isaac Singletary during an undercover drug operation. Police said Singletary pulled a gun on officers thinking they were drug dealers in his neighborhood.

Shorstein said he is still reviewing the most recent shootings by police but he suspects that they will come out to be justified, like the latest case where 22-year-old Latoya Greir was shot and killed by an officer after she fired a gun at him while he had her in custody.

Shorestein said he is taking a lot of heat because people perceive that he agrees with police all of the time, but he also gets criticized when he questions police actions.

"At times I have gone far beyond what the law requires of me -- and in many cases, with criticism," Shorstein said. "'Why are you doing that? Don't tell me how to run the sheriff's office or the mayor's office.' But I do think think, to a certain extent, it is my responsibility."