Cop Watch

Monday, September 26, 2005

Trigger Happy Cop killed by Trigger Happy Cop

University Police Officer Fatally Shot by Florida City Police

AP Photo/University of Central Florida Police Dept. via Orlando Sentinel
This undated photo provided by University of Central Florida Police Dept. shows university police officer Mario Jenkins and his police dog. Jenkins, working with the state to curb underage drinking, was shot to death by an Orlando police officer outside the Citrus Bowl Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, as fans were arriving for a football game, authorities said.
AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove
Michael McCoy, chief of the Orlando police, left, fields questions as Richard Turkiewicz, chief of the University of Central Florida police, looks on during a news conference in Orlando, Fla. Monday, Sept. 26, 2005. UCF police officer Mario Jenkins was working undercover to curb underage drinking at the Citrus Bowl prior to the UCF and Marshall football game Saturday when he was shot and killed by reserve Orlando police officer Dennis Smith after Jenkins fired his gun in the air.
AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove
Jay Etheridge , left, assistant special agent in charge of the FDLE's Orlando office, fields questions at a news conference as Michael McCoy, center, chief of the Orlando police department, and Richard Turkiewicz, chief of the University of Central Florida police, look on during a news conference in Orlando, Fla. Monday, Sept. 26, 2005. UCF police officer Mario Jenkins was working undercover to curb underage drinking at the Citrus Bowl prior to the UCF and Marshall game Saturday when he was shot and killed by reserve Orlando police officer Dennis Smith after Jenkins fired his gun in the air.
Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A university police officer working with the state to curb underage drinking was shot to death by an Orlando police officer outside the Citrus Bowl Saturday as fans were arriving for a football game, authorities said.

Mario Jenkins, a canine officer working with Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco agents, was killed, said University of Central Florida Police Sgt. Troy Williamson.

Williamson said Jenkins was wearing street clothes. He would not talk about the circumstances of the shooting.

''You've got about 50 police officers and beverage agents who are in complete shock at this point,'' Williamson said.

Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the incident started when an undercover officer tried to break up a tailgate party. When he encountered resistance, they said, he fired three shots into the air. An Orlando Police officer saw the man with the gun and shot him several times, the newspaper said.

Authorities believed a third person was involved, said Barbara Jones, spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. Jones refused to say whether the person was injured.

The shooting occurred before a game between University of Central Florida and Marshall University, which UCF won.

''It's pretty freaky. You don't think you would see this at a UCF game,'' junior Nicole Jorgensen, 22, of Melbourne.