WINTER PARK, Fla. — Dr. Randy Nelson rested his chin in his hand, leaning over the conference table in deep concentration. His eyes darted back and forth, emphasizing the obvious wheels turning inside his experienced brain.
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In front of him, shaky footage from a body camera played out of a laptop. He watched a few seconds, asked that the tape be rewound, then played back again.
“That was it,” he said, as a fist pushed toward the body-worn camera. “Once you hit that officer, that was it. That was an aggressive posture.”
The footage was from Winter Park, when officers were called to a wedding on Feb. 19 over a possible unruly guest. Seventy seconds after they made contact on scene, that guest, Daniel Knight, was shot seven times.
READ: Police release video of deadly shooting at Winter Park wedding reception
For the last month, police and the family’s attorneys traded words over what happened. The body cameras mostly proved the department’s version of events to be accurate: officers approached Knight, who was showing signs of being intoxicated outside the venue. As they tried to talk to him, he became more aggressive, eventually knocking one officer to the ground. He then turned to the second, who then stun-gunned him and eventually killed him.
Dr. Nelson couldn’t find any obvious flaws in the officers’ approach to the situation. He observed, through their cameras, as they walked up to Knight and a woman who identified herself as his sister. The officers tried to separate the duo as the sister put herself between Knight and them, which Nelson said is part of training.
“It’s not an isolated environment,” he said. “So, you want him to calm down, let’s get him separated,” he explained, adding that the other objective was to hear his version of the story.
READ: Family of wedding guest shot, killed by Winter Park police refute department’s account
Knight became aggressive as soon as officers walked up, though, seeming to pull the woman toward him. More guests surrounded the activity, then the violence started.
“You have to be, wherever possible, the calming influence. Let’s get this resolved and on our way,” Nelson said. “2.2 seconds it can go from, ‘Let’s get this resolved and get on my way’ to (a decision to fire a gun).”
Nelson recalled his classes, when students would talk through de-escalation tactics again and again before being led to a simulator. Almost every time, he said, the students would take a more aggressive tactic when faced with a similar, rapidly changing situation. Sometimes, they shot the wrong person.
Photos: Family of wedding guest shot, killed by Winter Park police refute department’s account
That’s why he said it was important for the public and other police departments to see what happened and dissect the situation, so lessons can be learned and people can understand the situation from the other side’s perspective.
In this case, the family members separating and remaining calm as officers tried to figure out why they were called out to them may have prevented the safety fears that led to the tragedy.
“I do think everyone should look what could have been done differently and ask yourself at every point, ‘Could this be different?’” he said. “At the end of the day, no one won from that situation.”
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