JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville police officer is being treated for non life-threatening injuries after being shot in the mouth.
Officer Nicholas Rodgers was shot late Sunday after answering a call about a suspicious person, possibly armed, sitting on a Jacksonville street corner.
Undersheriff Frank Mackesy says Rodgers chased the man and wrestled him to the ground, but he broke free and fired a shot that struck the officer in the face. Mackesy says Rodgers fired back and hit the man in the leg.
Rodgers was able to radio for help and police arrested a man a few blocks away. The suspect was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital for treatment of non life-threatening injuries.
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Posted by: kwflatbed
Florida Officer Shot in Face Takes Stand
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --
A Jacksonville police officer took the stand on Tuesday, testifying against the man who is charged with shooting him in the face.
Officer Nicholas Rodgers was the first witness of the day in the trial of Michael Dunbar.
Police arrested Dunbar in September 2007, saying he shot Rodgers in the face during a gun battle. Dunbar is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Just months after a bullet shattered Rodgers' jaw, a jury listened as the officer recounted how it happened.
Rodgers said he questioned Dunbar because he was walking in the middle of the road and acting suspicious.
He said he was patting him down when Dunbar pulled out a gun.
"I heard the defendant cock the revolver, and I saw the muzzle flash up near my face, and I felt I had been shot in the chin," Rodger said. "He shot me over the left shoulder and I just saw the muzzle flash in my face right here. I lost the bottom three and the top two that were replaced with fake ones and I still have a hole in the bottom."
The jury also heard a recording of Rodgers' frantic radio call after being shot, and after he said he fired back and hit Dunbar in the leg. Michael Dunbar
"Shots fired -- 24 and Haines -- brown shorts. He's walking northward toward 24th Street," Rodgers was heard saying in the recording.
During its opening statements the defense told a very different story about what happened that day on the Eastside.
Attorneys said Dunbar was stopped by Rodgers, and then released before being shot in the cross fire with someone else.
"Suddenly, from behind him he hears gunfire erupt. He starts to turn around to see what's going on and he was struck in the side of his left knee, and drops his cell phone, and props himself up on the front of the police car with his left hand. More gunshots ring out, and in a panic Michael takes off down 24th Street just to get out of this area," defense attorney Steve Mosca said.
The defense said there was no forensic evidence that proves that Dunbar did the shooting.
"Michael Dunbar does not know what happened that day. He knows he did not have a gun and he did not shoot anyone," said Mosca.
If convicted, Dunbar could be sentenced to life in prison.
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