Accused of firing on officer, suspect to be evaluated
TEMPLE TERRACE (FOX 13) - It was a traffic stop that escalated quickly in May of 2017: A Temple Terrace police officer pulled over a man he suspected was recently involved in a robbery.
Dash cam video shows Officer Courtney Baldwin approaching the car and asking, "Why are you reaching down by the door? Keep your hands on the dash, you hear me?”
That is followed by Officer Baldwin drawing his weapon and firing shots at the car. Then you see a hand firing shots out the driver’s-side window.
Prosecutors say the man shooting the gun was 25-year-old Jordan Bowie. They say he was aiming for Officer Baldwin.
Officer Baldwin testified during Bowie's bond hearing. "When he came up with a firearm it gave me enough time to shoot once. And I started to retreat while shooting at the same time he is shooting back at me.”
Bowie's mother Michelle Lane has watched her son struggle with a mental illness for years. "It has been a very hard struggle.”
When he was a boy, she says, he was diagnosed with bipolar behavior and paranoid schizophrenia,
"He's always been on medication. He's been on medication since he was 6 years old. They've had my son on every medication that’s been out, testing it to see if it worked. Some of it worked, some of it didn't," explained Lane.
Now, her son is facing serious charges that could send him to prison for a long time. Bowie's attorney says his client is incompetent to stand trial and will now be evaluated by two doctors.
Michelle says her son doesn't even understand the gravity of the charges against him or the consequences he faces.
"He has told me, 'I am so glad I have court coming up.' I said, ‘Well, Jordan, this is going to be a long process. You’re gonna have many court dates.’ And he's like, 'Well, I figured once I go to court we can straighten all this out and I can go home,’” she said, adding, “it just breaks my heart because he's not coming home."
If doctors find Bowie unfit to stand trial, he will be sent to a state hospital for treatment.
He faces a charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and is due back in court next month.