The Federal Bureau of Investigation will join the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in investigating the shooting death of Corey Jones.
The FBI agreed to join the investigation at the request of Sheriff Rick Bradshaw, the sheriff’s office said in a statement released Friday.
“I welcome their expertise and believe that this will ensure the highest level of scrutiny and impartiality,” Bradshaw said. “There have been many lessons learned from the tragic events that have occurred across the United States and there is nothing more important, now, than a comprehensive investigation process so we can ensure justice is served.”
» RELATED: Full coverage of Corey Jones shooting
The move was an extraordinary one for Bradshaw, who as recently as this summer vowed not to “back up” in the face of police criticism.
In his 10 years as sheriff, he’s only once requested help for a police-involved shooting, when public outrage over the 2012 killing of Seth Adams by one of his deputies prompted him to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review his investigators’ work. FDLE cleared the deputy.
It would be at least the second local police shooting looked into by the FBI this year. In May, following a joint investigation into PBSO shootings by The Palm Beach Post and WPTV NewsChannel 5, Bradshaw announced that the FBI was looking into one of his own agencies’ shootings.
Neither he nor the FBI would confirm the case, but it’s widely believed to be the 2013 shooting of Dontrell Stephens, who was unarmed when a deputy shot him. The incident received national attention after The Post and WPTV released video showing he was shot four seconds after deputy Adams Lin stepped out of his patrol car. The status of that investigation is unknown.
Bradshaw said at the time he welcomed FBI involvement.
“We understand they were interested, so we took the initiative to contact them,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a good thing to do. It’s in everybody’s best interests.”
Although Bradshaw has reached out to outside experts and changed policies in the wake of The Post’s investigation, he’s been largely resistant to outside pressure.
In a video message to police at the Police Benevolent Association’s Eighth Annual Police Officers’ Ball on June 13, he urged his fellow officers to “put their big boy pants on” and counter critics.
“Why should we be apologetic?” he said. “Why should we kowtow down? Why should we succumb to pressure from the outside, which is uncalled for, just because they think it’s wrong, when it’s not?”
