Cop Jesse Hernandez: Investigation, Resignation, and Lawsuit

Jesse Hernandez is the former Okaloosa County, Florida sheriff’s deputy who, on November 12, 2023, fired six rounds into his own patrol vehicle after mistaking the sound of a falling acorn for a suppressed gunshot. The man inside the car, Marquis Jackson, was handcuffed, unarmed, and had already been searched. No one was hit. Hernandez resigned weeks later, an internal investigation found his use of force was not objectively reasonable, prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, and a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Jackson was dismissed with prejudice in June 2026.¹²

What Happened on November 12, 2023

Deputies were called to McLaren Circle in Fort Walton Beach that morning after Celestiana Mercedes Lopez reported that her boyfriend, Marquis Keyon Jackson, had stolen her car and sent her threatening texts, one of which included a photo appearing to show a firearm suppressor pointed at the dashboard.¹

Jackson arrived at the scene on foot. Hernandez patted him down, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of a caged Dodge Durango patrol vehicle at about 9:12 a.m. Sergeant Beth Roberts told Hernandez to transport Jackson while she worked with Lopez on a grand theft affidavit.¹

As Hernandez walked back toward the vehicle for a secondary search, an acorn dropped from a tree overhead and struck the roof of the car. Hernandez later told investigators he heard what he took for a suppressed gunshot and felt something he believed was an impact to his upper torso. He shouted “Shots fired!” and “I’m hit!”, dropped to the ground, and fired his Sig Sauer P320 service pistol at his own patrol car. Six rounds went off before the slide locked back on an empty magazine.¹

Sergeant Roberts, hearing him, drew her weapon and also fired at the vehicle before taking cover and radioing dispatch that a deputy was down. Between the two of them, 22 rounds were discharged.³

Jackson, cuffed behind his back throughout, said he leaned over and played dead. He was not struck. Hernandez was taken to a hospital, where staff confirmed he had not been shot. Jackson was never charged with any crime.⁴⁵

Who Jesse Hernandez Is

Hernandez joined the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in January 2022 with no prior law enforcement experience. Before that, he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served ten years as an Army infantry and Special Forces officer, including two rotations to Afghanistan. He told investigators he had not been in direct combat during those deployments.⁶ At the time of the shooting, his response-to-resistance training and firearms qualifications were current.¹

Investigation Findings and Resignation

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office opened an internal affairs case, IA 2023-031, that produced a 44-page report. Investigators synchronized body camera footage from Hernandez and Roberts and, frame by frame, captured the acorn hitting the patrol vehicle’s roof at the exact moment Hernandez began to react. In his sworn interview, Hernandez acknowledged he had no other sensory evidence of a shooting, no muzzle flash and no other auditory cue, and conceded that the sound he had taken for a suppressed gunshot “could be” the acorn.¹

The investigation concluded that Hernandez’s use of force was “not objectively reasonable” and sustained a policy violation for excessive use of force.⁷ Roberts was exonerated because she fired only after hearing a fellow deputy shout that he had been hit.⁸

Hernandez resigned on December 4, 2023, while the investigation was still open.¹ The First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office conducted a separate criminal review and found no probable cause for charges against either officer.⁴ Sheriff Eric Aden said he did not believe Hernandez had acted with malice but that his actions were “ultimately not warranted.” Aden added, “We do believe he felt his life was in immediate peril and his response was based off the totality of circumstances surrounding this fear.”⁵

The sheriff’s office released the body camera video and the full internal report on February 12, 2024. The footage went viral within days. Aden publicly apologized to Jackson: “We hold our officers to a very high standard of service. And this particular time, we let the public down.” He said the footage would be used in departmental training.⁹⁸

The Lawsuit and Its Outcome

On September 11, 2024, Jackson’s attorney, civil rights lawyer DeWitt Lacy of the BNCL Law Firm, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The case, Jackson v. Aden et al., Case No. 3:24-cv-00429-TKW-ZCB, named eleven defendants, including Sheriff Aden, Hernandez, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Lacy called the deputies’ actions “unwarranted” and “unconstitutional” and said the suit sought damages along with reforms to law enforcement training and screening.¹⁰¹¹¹²

On June 10, 2026, Jackson filed a stipulation of dismissal. The next day, Judge T. Kent Wetherell II dismissed the case with prejudice, treating the filing as an unopposed motion for voluntary dismissal. A dismissal with prejudice bars the claims from being refiled and typically indicates the parties reached a settlement, though no terms have been made public.²

1
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. IA 2023-031 Final Investigative Report
2
PACER Monitor. Jackson v. Aden Et Al., Case 3:24-cv-00429
3
FOX 10 News. Attorney for Victim Fired Upon in Okaloosa County Patrol SUV Announces Lawsuit
4
NBC News. Video Shows Florida Deputy Repeatedly Shoot at Man After Thinking Falling Acorn Was Gunshot
5
The Guardian. Florida Deputy Resigns After Mistaking Acorn for Gunshot
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The Washington Post. Florida Deputy Fired at Unarmed Man After Mistaking Acorn for Gunshot
7
CBS Austin. Florida Deputy Resigns After Mistaking Acorns Falling for Gunshots
8
ABC News. Deputy Fires Weapon After Mistaking Acorn for Gunshot
9
WJHG News. Deputy Reportedly Mistakes Acorn Drop for Gunshot
10
WEAR-TV. Federal Lawsuit Filed Over Okaloosa County Deputy Acorn Shooting
11
WEAR-TV. Complaint for Damages, Jackson v. County of Okaloosa Et Al.
12
WJHG News. Lawsuit Filed in Acorn Shooting Incident