JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A bail bondsman who survived being shot by a police officer who thought he was responding to an armed home invasion talks about the confrontation that ended his partner's life and nearly took his.
Verne Williams was critically injured in the May 24 shooting at the Mayport Village Apartments that took the life of his partner, Antonio Cooks.
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In a recording obtained by Channel 4, Williams told investigators he could not believe police officers would shoot at him.
"I was with his partner. Why would (officers) shoot at me? You would've had to known that it was OK or that I was OK, because I was with his partner," Williams told investigators.
Images: Evidence photos of bondsmen shootings
Williams claimed he had called Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dispatch three times that night asking for assistance serving an arrest warrant at the Beach Boulevard apartment complex.
At one point, officers did show up but quickly left. The shots were fired when a second set of officers arrived -- called by a resident of the complex just after 2 a.m. -- who said they knew nothing of bondsmen working in the area.
Williams said he was wearing a shirt saying "Surety Agent," had a badge hanging around his neck and was trying to identify himself when the shooting started.
"He just started popping, so as he's hitting me, I'm explaining to him who I am," Williams said. "So I'm, like, 'I'm a surety agent. I'm a bondsman.' So he's popping, and then his partner says to him, 'He's a bondsman, he's a, like, a bondsman. What are you doing? Stop!'"
The state attorney's office cleared the officer, saying he did not violate the law because he did not know the men dressed in black with guns were bondsmen and they refused to put down their weapons.