North Hampton shooting - Summary of Facts from State Attorney's Office investigation

Submitted by Susan Hardee Steger

August 25, 2014 6:18 p.m.

The following "Summary of Facts" are reported in the State Attorney's Office investigation of the death of Anthony Jamal Bartley on February 10, 2014.

Summary of Facts:

1. "On the morning of Monday, February 10, 2014, Deputy Wilfred "Bill" Quick, a 10 year veteran with the Nassau county Sheriff's Office (NCSO), shot and killed Anthony Jamal Bartley as Mr. Bartley was attacking Deputy Quick.  The shooting occurred on a residential street in the North Hampton subdivision.  For the reasons outlined below, the State Attorney's Office has concluded that Deputy Quick was justified in the use of deadly force against Mr. Bartley.
2. At approximately 11:00 a.m. on February 10th, ________ called 911 to report that Mr. Bartley had punched holes in her walls, lunged himself through a window, and pushed her through a window.  _________ added that Mr. Bartley was now outside the residence and bleeding.  A subsequent interview with _________ revealed that Mr. Bartley had spent the night at her residence, located on Sagaponack Drive, the night before the shooting.  During the evening, Mr. Bartley was seen snorting white powder through a rolled-up dollar bill.  _______ reported that later that evening Mr. Bartley was acting paranoid and pacing back and forth with his fists clinched.  At approximately 8:00 a.m. on the 10th, Mr. Bartley rammed his head through a window in the residence, before pushing ___________  through a window.  Mr. Bartley, who was bleeding heavily from his head, then punched several holes in the wall within the residence.  Between 10:50 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., Mr. Bartley left the residence, still bleeding heavily.  Photographs of _________ residence reveal a broken window and several holes in an interior wall.
3. After leaving ______ residence, Mr. Bartley who was shirtless and not wearing shoes, jumped onto the moving car of one of ________ neighbors.  That driver, a female, eventually stopped her car suddenly when she saw Mr. Bartley through her sunroof.  The stopping of the car caused Mr. Bartley to roll off the front of the car.  The female driver then alerted another neighbor who was outside, and called 911.  After falling off the car Mr. Bartley attempted to jump onto another moving vehicle, but that driver was able to prevent that by speeding off.
4.  At 11:02 a.m., a female neighbor called to report that Mr. Bartley had broken a window to her residence, was banging on her garage door, and damaged her mailbox with his fists and head.  Photographs of that residence reveal a broken downstairs window, and blood on the residence's garage door and damage to her mailbox.
5. Another resident called 911 to report that Mr. Bartley had entered her car that morning while she was inside her residence, and left a large amount of blood inside her car.  Photographs of the car revealed blood inside and outside of the car.
6. A neighbor who had witnessed Mr. Bartley riding on and falling off of the moving vehicles called her future step-father, who is a doctor.  The doctor, who was not far away at the time of the call, then returned home.  As the doctor was driving through the neighborhood, he saw Mr. Bartley walking down the street, with blood all over his body.  The doctor called 911 and continued driving through the neighborhood until he made contact with Deputy Quick as Quick was approaching the scene in his patrol car.  The doctor flagged Deputy Quick down and asked Quick to follow him to Mr. Bartley's last known location.  As the doctor got close to Mr. Bartley, Bartley ran toward the doctor's car, but the doctor was able to avoid Mr. Bartley and drive past him.
7. Deputy Quick was on-duty at the time and wearing his standard sheriff's-office uniform.  Deputy Quick heard the initial dispatch of a suspicous person, and subsequent dispatches, advising that a black male had punched a mailbox and was walking down the street.
8. As Deputy Quick followed the doctor through the neighborhood, he saw Mr. Bartley run across a yard an toward the doctor's car.  Deputy Quick then stopped his patrol car in the street and got out.  As Deputy Quick exited his patrol car, he saw Mr. Bartley running toward him with his fists clenched and his eyes open wide.  Deputy Quick asked Mr. Bartley what was going on, but received no response.  Instead, Mr. Bartley continued to approach Deputy quick.
9. As Mr. Bartley approached Deputy Quick, the deputy starte backing up and removed his police taser from its holster.  When Mr. Bartley got close to Deputy Quick, Mr. Bartley swung his right fist at Deputy Quick's head.  Deputy Quick was able to avoid that punch by ducking, but Mr. Bartley immediately  punched Deputy quick in the head with his left fist.  After getting punched in the head, Deputy Quick deployed his taser on Mr. Bartley, which knocked Mr. Bartely to the ground.
10. After deploying his taser, Deputy Quick started backing up and told Mr. Bartley to stay on the ground. Mr. Bartely failed to obey Deputy Quick's commands and stood up.  Mr. Bartley then approached Deputy Quick a second time.  Mr. Bartley again punched Deputy Quick in the head.  Mr. Bartley's punch knocked Deputy Quick top the ground.  Deputy Quick  then deployed the taser a second time, knocking Mr. Bartley to his knees.  When the second taser cycle was complete, Mr. Bartley got up and lunched at Deputy Quick, knocking Deputy Quick's taser from his heand. As Mr. Bartley continued to punch Deputy Quick, the deputy un-holstered his pistol.  Mr. Bartley died as a result of the gunshot wounds.  The autopsy also revealed that Mr. Bartley had THC and cocaine metabolite in his system.
11. Deputy Quick then ordered Mr. Bartley to get on the ground, but Mr. Bartley continued his attack on Deputy Quick.  During the attack, Mr. Bartley told Deputy Quick, "You are going to have to kill me."  As Mr. Bartley continued to punch Deputy Quick with closed fists, Deputy Quick fired his pistol at Mr. Bartley.  The intial gunshots did not stop Mr. Bartley, so Deputy Quick fired a second volley of shots.  After Mr. Bartley succumbed to the gunfire, Deputy quick immediately called for rescue and attempted to render aid to Mr. Bartley.
12. The doctor mentioned above, who was standing nearby at the time, saw Mr. Bartley attack Deputy Quick multiple times.  The doctor also confirmed that Deputy Quick's first gunshots did not stop Mr. Bartley.
13. Rescue responded and pronounced Mr. Bartley dead at the scene.  The autopsy of Mr. Bartley revealed that he was shot four or five times. (Note the medical examiner was unable to determine whether one gunshot wound was independent of the other gunshots or caused by one of the other gunshots.) Mr. Bartley died as a result of gunshot wounds.  The autopsy also revealed that Mr. Bartley had THC and cocaine metabolite in his system.

Summation:

"At the time Deputy Quick discharged his firearm at Mr. Bartley, Deputy Quick was confronted with a person who was described as being suspicious, and who: (1) was covered in blood and had just approached a moving vehicle, (2) had failed to obey Deputy Quick's lawful commands, (3) had charged at Deputy Quick and struck him multiple times, (4) had attacked Deputy Quick a second time after being tased, (5) had knocked Deputy Quick's taser from his hands (6) and had continued to punch Deputy Quick with closed fists after telling Deputy Quick, "you are going to have to kill me." Under the circumstances, Deputy Quick had reason to believe that the use of deadly force was necessary to defend himself and others from imminent death or great bodily harm."

Conclusion: "Therefore, it is the opinion of the undersigned Assistant State Attorney that the use of deadly force in this case by Deputy Quick was justifiable pursuant to Florida Statues, Chapters 776 and 782.02, the Florida Standard Jury Instructions and applicable case law." The report was signed by John L. Guy, Assistant State Attorney

Information from the SAO was provided to the media today including numerous 911 recordings.  Out of consideration for the 911 callers, the Fernandina Observer will not produce the audio on its website.