Department of Justice investigating officer-involved shooting at Osceola County Target store

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The investigation into an officer- involved shooting at an Osceola County target has been going on for a year and a half and is now in front of a state grand jury.

Channel 9 has just learned that the shooting has sparked an investigation by the Department of Justice.

In April 2022, Osceola County deputies were doing a training exercise near a Target store on US-192.

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At the same time, two teens were accused of stealing Pokemon cards and pizza from the store.

Deputies responded, surrounding the vehicle the teens were in.

But when that vehicle took off, they were stopped by unmarked units and then two deputies fired.

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Jayden Baez was killed, and two others were hurt.

Right now, a state Grand Jury is hearing testimony and will decide if the two deputies involved in that shooting will be charged or not.

Questions were raised during that shooting after sources told Channel 9 that a detective told the state attorney that his signature was not the one on the arrest affidavit for the alleged shoplifters.

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Questions about the deputies reports were also raised by the teen’s attorney’s during a news conference weeks after the shooting.

Mark Nejame said back in April, “Take a look at when these reports were filed. There’s four of them by four deputies. All of these were filed on the same day at the same time.”

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Today the FBI would not confirm its interviews or investigation, but on Tuesday the sheriff’s office gave responded to Eyewitness News: “Sheriff Marcos Lopez has been working with the Department of Justice in an ongoing investigation regarding a signature affidavit. Sheriff Lopez appreciates the partnership and professionalism of the Department of Justice and is looking forward to the resolution of this ongoing investigation.”

Channel 9 didn’t learn how long that will take but were told deputies have been called to appear in front of the federal Grand Jury sometime this week.

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