Jacksonville, Fla. -- Action News obtained the personnel files for all five officers involved the shooting of two-year-old Daniel Crichton.
There are hundreds of pages in the officer's personnel files. For the most part, the officers have a lot of positive comments from superiors and a lot of commendation letters. But there are some other things. For example, one was caught disposing of a knife, which is against JSO policy.
There was crime tape and police cars everywhere. It was a chaotic day after a man robbed a bank on Baymeadows road. A car was full of bullet holes and inside it, a child hit and wounded. Forty-two rounds were fired by the five officers that day.
Action New spent hours pouring through each page of the files. Some of the officers have awards like Officer of the Month and Lifesaving award. But there are also complaints. One drove out of the county with a police car. Several officers have been to counseling and put on unpaid leave. One was even accused of mishandling a call.
The new information from JSO shows three of the officers are back on the street and two are doing desk work. Here's how their investigation works. All of them were put on administrative leave after the shooting. JSO says before returning to duty, a psychologist has to do an assessment. Then, if JSO decides there are no policy violations, the officers may be returned to regular duty.
Two-year-old Daniel Crichton is still in the hospital, fighting for his life. He was hit twice while in the car with his mother, Joann Cooper. The suspect, Jeremiah Mathis, was shot and killed. Police say he had just robbed a bank and tried to jump in Cooper's car to get away.
The only officer who didn't have any red flags in his file, was Officer Griffith, but he's only been on the force a year and is still a recruit. The state attorney's office says they're still doing their own investigation, trying to figure out whether the shooting was justifiable. It'll be up to that office on whether any charges are filed.
The sheriff is planning a news conference for Thursday afternoon to talk about the investigative process that occurs in these cases.
