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Should sheriff investigate Fort Pierce shooting?

Posted at 5:29 PM, Apr 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-28 06:48:06-04

The Fort Pierce City Council could decide to take the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office off the investigation into a deadly Fort Pierce officer-involved shooting.

That shooting killed 21-year-old DeMarcus Semer over the weekend.

Sheriff Ken Mascara said there is no reason for anyone to doubt the work being done by his detectives.

But Fort Pierce City Councilman Reggie Sessions says some in the community don't trust the sheriff's office to be fair and unbiased.

He wants the Department of Justice or FDLE to take the lead.

The Fort Pierce Police Chief enlisted the help from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office to do the investigation so the police department wouldn’t be investigating its own officers.

But Sessions says witnesses are hesitant to come forward to the sheriff’s office and that could hurt the investigation.

Sheriff Mascara says more witnesses have been coming forward and the investigation is moving forward fairly.

“I’ve walked the neighborhood the last three days not talking to only residents but anyone who drove by the street or the actual site of the shooting and they all encourage me to be involved in this investigation,” Sheriff Mascara said.

The Sheriff says he has also already enlisted help from other agencies including the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office to help recreate the crime scene.

Mascara also says he has the FBI on backup.

The names of the officers involved in the shooting have not been released and won't be until the end of the investigation. The Assistant State Attorney says he doesn't want someone to hear their names and then falsely claim that they saw the officer shoot. 
 
In addition an officer rumored to be a part of shooting has received death threats, the Assistant State Attorney said.
 
The State Attorney’s Office says the case will ultimately be handed to a grand jury.