Bonkers moment Florida cop opens fire on handcuffed, unarmed suspect in his own patrol car after an ACORN landed on vehicle and he thought he’d been shot at

This is the bizarre moment a police officer opened fire on a handcuffed, unarmed suspect in his own patrol car after an acorn landed on his vehicle.

Officer Jesse Hernandez of Okaloosa County, Florida, thought he was being shot when he heard the innocent jerk fall onto the hood of his car – and an internal investigation found his use of force was unjustified.

Shocking video footage released this week showed how close his absurd reaction came to killing the man in his car, identified as 22-year-old Marquis Jackson.

Jackson was accused of stealing a car and sending threatening messages to his girlfriend, so he was handcuffed and placed in the car by Hernandez at 9 a.m. on November 12.

Shocking video footage released this week showed just how close his absurd reaction came to shooting the man in his car, identified as 22-year-old Marquis Jackson (pictured arrested)

During the investigation, Hernandez was made to sit down and look at the body camera. As he looked at frame by frame, he asked the researcher, “Jerk?” They replied: ‘Jerk’

Before the shooting started, a barely audible sound of an acorn hitting the car is heard – which the officer then mistakes for shots.

Hernandez rolls dramatically on the ground, shouts “shots fired” four times and struggles to get up as he begins shooting at his vehicle, shattering the rear window.

Then he shouted, “I’ve been hit.” There was no shot, so he wasn’t hit. His partner Sergeant Beth Roberts then began firing her firearm at Jackson, who was still in the back seat.

Following the careless ordeal, Hernandez resigned while an investigation into his handling of the incident was conducted. No officers involved in the incident have been criminally charged.

During the investigation, Hernandez was made to sit down and look at the body camera. As he looked at frame by frame, he asked the researcher, “Jerk?” They replied: ‘Jerk.’

Sheriff Aden said in a statement, “We are very grateful that Mr. Jackson was not injured and we have no reason to believe that former Deputy Hernandez acted maliciously.

“Although his actions were ultimately unjustified, we believe he felt his life was in immediate danger and that his response was based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding this fear.

Jackson said the ordeal scarred him for life – as he was forced to lie there and play dead while praying that one of the careless bullets wouldn’t hit him

The suspect said: ‘I haven’t been the same since and I don’t think this feeling I have will ever change. I truly believe I am damaged for life!’

“Just as we have a duty to protect our officers so they can go home safely to their families, law enforcement has the same duty to every citizen under investigation for a crime.”

The investigation found that Roberts’ use of deadly force was objectively reasonable, and she was acquitted.

Jackson said the ordeal scarred him for life – as he was forced to lie there and play dead while praying that one of the careless bullets wouldn’t hit him.

He wrote in a Facebook post: ‘I was searched multiple times, then unlawfully handcuffed and placed in the backseat of the police car while restrained with the seat belts.

‘A few moments later I hear an officer shouting: ‘I’ve been hit, he’s armed!’ As soon as that was announced, multiple shots were fired at me while I was strapped into the backseat.

“All I could do was lean over and play dead to avoid being shot in the head.

‘I was terrified and I knew the only thing I could rely on was God! I ignored everything and prayed! Windows kept flying into me as bullets kept flying over me.

Following the careless ordeal, Hernandez resigned while an investigation into his handling of the incident was conducted

Bodycam of the officer who dived to the ground and said he had been hit when he had not

“I’m blessed not to have been hit by bullets or physically injured, but mentally I’m not doing well.

‘I haven’t been the same since then and I don’t think this feeling I have will ever change. I truly believe I am damaged for life!’

He said the officers told him to raise his hands, which he couldn’t do because he was handcuffed.

Jackson said after the bullets stopped firing, “A few minutes later they swarmed the car and knocked me to the ground to search me and look for any injuries.

‘When I got up I was led to the ambulance. That’s when I saw how many officers there were. But the image I can’t get out of my head is seeing how badly my mother was hurt/crying just before I got into the ambulance!’

Jackson was not charged with anything and was released after being booked and held in a cell.