JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Detective Jared Reston joined the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in 2001. Since that time the highly decorated officer has been involved in several close calls – he has the scars to prove it.
When Action News interviewed Reston in 2011 he showed us where he was shot by a suspect in the face. The bullet went right into his jaw, missing an artery by millimeters. A JSO spokesperson tells Action News in the past 12 years Reston has used his weapon four times, including this most recent incident – all have been deadly.
In May of 2007, Reston was one of three officers put on administrative leave after a murder suspect from Orlando was shot and killed during a shootout in Jacksonville.
In January of 2008, Reston was shot multiple times, including his jaw, while pursuing a shoplifting suspect at the Regency Square Mall. He was off duty at the time. Reston was later honored as JSO officer of the year, he received the purple heart award and was also named Florida’s officer of the year. His story later made national headlines. In 2010, Reston was awarded the medal of valor by Vice President Joe Biden.
In January of 2011, Reston was one of several JSO Swat team officers involved in a manhunt for Christopher Scott Kilgore. The officers fired more than two dozen rounds at Kilgore – killing him. Reston reportedly fired his weapon six times.
Reston is now on administrative leave which is standard procedure during a shooting investigation.
This is the third deadly shooting by a JSO officer this year. Last year, ten people were shot by police – six of them died.
