Jason Arrington’s attorney is in settlement talks with the City of Jacksonville over the December 13, 2024 traffic stop in which a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officer shot him in the leg with his own legally carried handgun. As of May 2025, no federal lawsuit had been filed and no dollar figure had been made public, but attorney Kay Harper Williams said she would “absolutely” sue in federal court in Jacksonville if negotiations fail.1Yahoo News. Attorney: Officer Violated Man’s Rights; Traffic Stop Shooting Settlement Talks Underway
What Happened at the Traffic Stop
Arrington, then 39, was pulled over near Main Street and 27th Street around 5:10 p.m. for running a red light. He held a concealed carry license and immediately told Officer Shaun Lowry he was armed, a disclosure officers thanked him for. JSO later described him as “very compliant.”2CBS News. Jacksonville Florida Officer Fired Accidental Shooting Traffic Stop
Officers asked him to step out so they could take his Glock .45. Officer Mindy Cardwell tried to pull the pistol from his inside-the-waistband holster using her non-dominant hand. The holster was tight. Arrington told investigators Cardwell “jerked” the weapon several times and that he offered to loosen his belt, but she kept pulling. Her finger slipped into the trigger guard and the gun fired, sending a round through his right thigh.3News4Jax. Jacksonville Man Suing JSO After Being Shot in the Leg When an Officer Tried To Take His Gun During a Traffic Stop4KFOX TV. Officer Fired After Accidentally Shooting Driver With His Own Gun
The bullet entered his upper right thigh and exited through his inner thigh. Arrington, a crane operator, has said the injury has made climbing onto equipment, working on top of trains, and operating forklifts significantly harder. He has continued physical therapy and mental health counseling for emotional distress tied to the shooting.3News4Jax. Jacksonville Man Suing JSO After Being Shot in the Leg When an Officer Tried To Take His Gun During a Traffic Stop
Where Settlement Talks Stand
Arrington retained Kay Harper Williams of The Witherspoon Law Group. Williams entered pre-suit settlement negotiations with the City of Jacksonville, and as of May 2025 those talks were still underway. No lawsuit had been filed and no settlement amount had been publicly disclosed.5Action News Jax. Attorney: Officer Violated Man’s Rights; Traffic Stop Shooting Settlement Talks Underway Williams said her goal is not only compensation but also policy change to prevent similar incidents.3News4Jax. Jacksonville Man Suing JSO After Being Shot in the Leg When an Officer Tried To Take His Gun During a Traffic Stop
The Legal Claim
Williams has framed the case as a Fourth Amendment violation, arguing the officers’ decision to remove Arrington’s lawfully carried firearm was an unreasonable seizure because he posed no threat.5Action News Jax. Attorney: Officer Violated Man’s Rights; Traffic Stop Shooting Settlement Talks Underway The claim rests on the argument that a cooperative, licensed carrier stopped for a minor traffic violation should not have been disarmed at all, and that the injury flowed directly from that unlawful seizure.
What Happened to the Officer
JSO determined the shooting was unintentional and opened an internal affairs investigation. Investigators returned a sustained finding of incompetence against Cardwell. In her interview, she admitted her finger had slipped into the trigger guard while she was using her non-dominant hand. JSO fired her.6Second Amendment Foundation. Officer Fired After Shooting Driver With His Own Handgun2CBS News. Jacksonville Florida Officer Fired Accidental Shooting Traffic Stop Prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges.
Policy Change After the Shooting
After the incident, JSO issued a departmental memo telling officers that concealed carriers are not inherently a threat and that officers should not seize a firearm from someone lawfully carrying it unless there is “articulable suspicion that the detained person presents a threat to the safety of citizens or officers,” or knowledge that the person is ineligible to carry.6Second Amendment Foundation. Officer Fired After Shooting Driver With His Own Handgun The change addresses the exact scenario Arrington was in.
Florida Law on Disarming a Lawful Carrier at a Traffic Stop
A 1998 informal opinion from the Florida Attorney General’s Office called seizing a firearm during a traffic stop “problematical” absent specific legal justification, distinguishing between an officer’s authority to confiscate weapons during an arrest and what officers can do during an ordinary stop. Florida’s concealed carry statute also instructs courts to construe the law liberally in favor of the constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense.7Florida Attorney General. Concealed Weapons Licensee Traffic Violations
Florida appellate courts, citing the 1994 decision in Rouse v. State, have held that a traffic-stop detention “can last no longer than the time necessary to write the traffic citation,” and that further detention or seizure requires reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.7Florida Attorney General. Concealed Weapons Licensee Traffic Violations JSO’s post-incident memo tracks the same principle.
What Jacksonville Has Paid in Similar Cases
Jacksonville has a recent history of paying to resolve police claims. In 2023, the city agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit over the 2019 fatal shooting of Jamee Johnson by Officer Josue Garriga, without admitting wrongdoing. Sheriff T.K. Waters said publicly he would have preferred to take that case to a jury.8Florida Tribune. Jacksonville To Pay $200K To Settle Lawsuit Over Police Shooting of FAMU Student Reporting by the Florida Tribune found that since 2022, JSO has paid nearly $2 million in settlements tied to complaints of police brutality.9Florida Tribune. Force Is Ugly but JSO Seldom Punishes Cops Accused of Abuse Those figures give some sense of the range Arrington’s claim is being negotiated against, though no comparable case in the file involves an unintentional shooting of a compliant, licensed carrier by an officer since terminated for incompetence.