May 24, 2011 — Jacksonville
Antonio Cooks was fatally shot and Verne Williams was critically injured by Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Jason Bailey.
According to media reports and court records, Cooks and Williams, who were bail bondsmen, were outside an apartment complex looking for a fugitive.
They had called for police backup that night, but officers had left. At about 2 a.m., different officers responded to a 911 call about armed men. Read more
Bailey found Cooks in the back of the complex. Cooks, 32, was wearing a mask, was in all black had a gun, but he also wore a shirt that read "Surety Agent" and had a gold badge.
Bailey told Cooks to drop the weapon and she shot him five times, including in the back, the autopsy showed.
Hearing gunfire, Williams and another bondsman ran from the front to the back of the building shouting, "Cease fire!" Bailey fired at Williams, 37, hitting him eight times and critically injuring him.
In October 2011, a state review found Bailey did not break any laws.
In 2012, Cooks' family sued Bailey and the City of Jacksonville for negligence in the case.
The family and the city reached a confidential settlement in 2015.
This was the 50th police shooting in Florida in 2011.
Six days earlier, two officers shot one person in High Springs .
Two days later, three officers shot one person in St. Petersburg .
4 ways this case compares to others
- Cooks was one of 36 people shot in the back by police.
- Williams was armed with a firearm. That’s true of almost half the people shot.
- Cooks was armed with a firearm. That’s true of almost half the people shot.
- A civil lawsuit was filed in response to Cooks's shooting. Ninety other cases led to lawsuits.