Tampa, Florida: On Tursday afternoon, 19 July 2018, a 47 year old man was arguing with a woman sitting in a car on a convenience store parking lot in Pinellas county outside of Tampa about being in a handicap parking space when her 28 year old boyfriend came out of the convenience store and simply walked up to the man and hit him in the chest with both hands knocking the man forcefully to the ground. Michael Drejka, 47, was attacked by Markeis McGlockton, who was 28. The older man on the parking lot tarmac then pulled out a pistol and shot the man who had knocked him down directly in the chest. The younger man then held his chest and turned and ran back into the convenience store.
There was no violence before Markeis McGlockton came out of the store. He thought he could simply walk up to this man and knock him down. But Michael Drejka had a weapon and used the gun to protect himself from further attack. Florida has a decade old 'stand your ground' law that gives people who are lawfully about their business to resist criminal attacks without simply retreating and calling for help. The police and district attorney have no plans to charge the shooter who defended himself in the parking lot from an unprovoked physical attack.
CCTV footage of the incident shows Drejka confronting the victim’s girlfriend about their car being parked in a handicapped parking spot without a permit. Witnessing the argument, McGlockton rushed to the scene and pushed Drejka to the ground. Drejka then pulled out his handgun and shot his assailant, who then wheeled away, clutching his chest.
Two of McGlockton’s children, a four-month-old and a three-year-old, were in the car at the time of the shooting. His five-year-old was in the store, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/No-arrest-in-fatal-shooting-during-argument-over-handicap-parking-space_170174041
Girlfriend Of 'Stand Your Ground' Shooting Victim Says Gunman 'Was Picking A Fight'
Hayley Miller ,HuffPost•July 23, 2018
The girlfriend of a Florida man who was shot dead during an altercation over a parking space last week says the gunman “wanted someone to be angry at.”
Britany Jacobs witnessed Michael Drejka, 47, gun down her boyfriend Markeis McGlockton, a 28-year-old father of three, in a convenience store parking lot in Clearwater on Thursday. Police, citing Florida’s “stand your ground” gun law that allows gun owners to use deadly force if they feel threatened, filed no charges.
Jacobs described the shooting and demanded justice in an interview Monday with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“He was a good man,” Jacobs said of McGlockton. “All he was trying to do was just protect his family.”
The confrontation began when McGlockton left his car idling in a handicap space Thursday to run into the store to purchase snacks. Jacobs was waiting in the car with their two children when Drejka approached and began “harassing” her for parking in a handicap space without a permit, she said.
“He wanted somebody to be angry at,” Jacobs said. “He just wanted someone to fight him. He was picking a fight. I’m just sitting, waiting for my family to come back to the car.”
McGlockton, seeing the confrontation, shoved Drejka to the ground, according to Jacobs. That’s when Drejka, who is white, pulled a gun and shot McGlockton, who is black, in the chest, just a few feet from the car, Jacobs said.
“The guy is on the ground and he pulls the gun out,” Jacobs told ABC. “My dude steps back ’cause my dude is fearing for his life ― all of us were.”
McGlockton, wounded, stumbled into the store, where he collapsed. He was pronounced dead roughly 30 minutes later at a hospital.
Drejka told police he feared for his life, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Friday at a press conference, where surveillance video of the shooting was released.
Police, citing the “stand your ground” law, did not arrest Drejka. (More famously, George Zimmerman was acquitted for the shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a trial that provoked intense scrutiny of the law. While Zimmerman did not invoke “stand your ground” in his defense, the judge instructed the jury on the law, and it was cited by a juror after the trial as a factor in their deliberations.)
The sheriff’s office referred Drejka’s case to the state attorney’s office to determine whether he should be charged.
ABC reported that the owner of the convenience store, who was not named, has previously called the police to report Drejka for confronting customers over parking.
“I just want justice,” Jacobs told ABC. “I need something to be done because this is not right.”
Clarification: Language in this story has been amended to clarify the way Florida’s “stand your ground” law factored into Zimmerman’s acquittal.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/girlfriend-apos-stand-ground-apos-142403830.html
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