JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville Sheriff's officer shot and killed a man Sunday morning after police said the man aimed a gun at a crowd of people.
At around 2 a.m. outside Club Aqua in the 11,000 block of Beach Boulevard near St. Johns Bluff, 24-year-old Nicholas Underwood went to his car, grabbed a gun and tried to head back inside the club, according to police.
"You had a parking lot full of probably several hundred people," Jacksonville Sheriff Chief Tom Hackney said. "He had the gun raised up."
Patrons alerted Officer Michael Peterson. He approached Underwood, told him repeatedly to put down his gun and get on the ground, Hackney said. Underwood refused to comply with any of the officer's orders, JSO said.
Hackney said Peterson had to make a split-second decision and fired five shots at Underwood, killing him.
Peterson and another officer from JSO were working off-duty that night, hired by the club as extra security. They had to break up several skirmishes inside the club overnight. Police aren't sure but they said that could have been a reason why Underwood went to his car and got the weapon.
The officer was placed on paid administrative leave, which is JSO policy. It is the first time in his 12 years that he had shot someone, and the fourth police involved shooting of 2012.
Underwood had not previously been arrested in Jacksonville, but had been charged with a few misdemeanors in Broward County in South Florida.