Girlfriends expect men in uniform to protect them and their partners. But what happens when the very cops I trust to keep their boyfriends safe >> [music] >> end up taking their lives instead? >> He's he's he's covered. He ain't my boyfriend. He's licensed he's carried he's licensed to carry. Oh my god, please don't tell me he's Please don't tell me my boyfriend just went like that. >> There are several moments when girlfriends realize cops have shot their boyfriend. Starting with a case of a man being driven to the hospital by his partner only for an officer to decide he'd be heading to the ER just not in the way anyone expected. >> Are you here to help her? >> Nah, she's taking me to the hospital. >> Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> On December the 9th, 2024, a Bowie City Police Department officer pulled up to a vehicle idling on the side of the highway expecting [music] a routine stop. But before he could say license and registration, the situation spiraled out of control. One poor judgment call flipped the script turning the quiet stretch of road into [music] a full-blown powder keg. >> 210 76 Avenue >> 210 go ahead. >> Vehicle 197 southbound on the 50 bridge. >> Hey doing? Do you know her? You here to help her? Huh? Are you here to help her? >> Nah, she's taking me to the hospital. >> We're here You got to >> What I do? What I do? >> You got to >> I don't have I don't have a >> Oh! >> What's that? >> What did you do? >> 210, 210. Send me another unit. >> What did you do? Why did YOU DO THAT? >> DID you shoot me? >> Why did you do that? >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> Why would you do that? He was looking AT HIS CAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. >> 210. Send me fire board. >> The victim pulled through, but the officer behind the trigger wasn't walking away unscathed. Identified as Sergeant Robert Warrington, a 12-year veteran of the Bowie City Police Department, his badge offered no shield this time. Now on the wrong side of the law, Warrington faces a stack of serious charges, attempted second-degree first-degree assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. As of now, the gavel hasn't dropped. No verdict has been reached, [music] leaving the case hanging in legal limbo. While the victim pulled through, his miraculous escape quickly became the prayer point of wedding guests after officers discharged a firearm at a drunken disorderly man at his niece's wedding. >> PUT YOUR HANDS >> OH PLEASE, DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER. NO. OH DEAR LORD, NO. NO, NO, NO, we were celebrating. >> On February the 19th, 2023, just past 9:30 p.m., officers rolled up to what they thought was just another call about a rowdy guest, but unknown to them, this wedding was about to earn a place in infamy. What should have been vows and roses quickly turned into blows and bruises as a man went off the deep end, attacking fellow guests. The reception took a nosedive, and And the cake was even cut, the cops were knee deep in chaos. >> Hey partner. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Step away from him. Step away from him. Step away from him. HEY. HEY. LET HIM GO. CHASE. CHASE. CHASE. GET AWAY FROM HIM. GET AWAY FROM HIM NOW. Step back. >> While officers tried to keep a lid on things, the scene unraveled faster than a cheap wedding veil in a windstorm. By the end of it, guests learned the hard way. Cake disasters and drunk uncles [music] have nothing on what went down that night. >> No. Step back. Step back. PUT YOUR HANDS STEP BACK. STEP BACK. PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK NOW. PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE AT? WHERE AT? WHERE AT? WHERE AT? WHERE AT? WHERE STAY BACK. STAY BACK. STAY BACK. GET BACK. GET BACK. STAY BACK. Stay back. We're fine, man. Stay back. GET BACK. GET BACK. GET BACK. WE'RE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN. GET BACK. HEY, YOU GOT TO WORRY I'm worried about you. We're not You okay? You okay, sir? Get back. I'm not going to tell you again. I'm going to put you in jail. Get back now. You got a problem with me? You want a problem, you're going to find one. YOU BETTER FIND SOMETHING TO DO. STAY BACK. WE GOT A LOT TO DEAL WITH OVER THERE. MIND YOUR BUSINESS. Stay back. Stay back. He's got enough people over HERE. STAY BACK. STAY BACK. >> [screaming] [screaming] >> STOP. STOP. STOP. APPLY COMPRESSIONS CORRECTLY. KEEP GOING. >> JUST SOME MORE UNITS OVER HERE FOR CROWD CONTROL, PLEASE. We're getting fire department here, sir. What do you want me to do? He punched me in the back of my head, took my taser. I'm on my back, okay? My life is in jeopardy, okay? We'll save If you respect me, stay back. Stay back, ma'am, please. Stay back, please. WHAT? GO AWAY, MA'AM. GO AWAY. WHAT? WHAT YOU GOING TO DO? WHAT YOU GOING TO >> THE WEDDING GUESTS, once witnesses to vows of love, were now caught in the middle of something far more sinister. But the chaos, well, it wasn't going to hit all at once. It was about to unfold slowly, one twisted moment at a time. >> Please don't record me. >> You need to go get some crime scene tape. Go grab some crime scene tape. You all right, man? >> Yeah, I'm okay. >> He swung on me. He hit me too in the back of my head. >> Yeah, he Yeah, he got me. He knocked me out. He knocked me out. >> He knocked you out? >> Yeah, he knocked me out. >> You need to go away. You go away. I will lock you up right now. Go away. Go away. GO AWAY. I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN. OKAY, WELL, YOU TAKE HIM SOMEWHERE. Take him somewhere. >> There's no need TO ESCALATE. THERE'S NO NEED TO ESCALATE. PLEASE, dear heavenly father, no. Oh, dear lord, no. No, no, no, we were celebrating. He didn't have any weapons. We were celebrating. We were celebrating. He didn't have any weapons. >> You all right, man? We're going to get the ambulance to come down here. >> You all right? Yeah, I'm I'm okay. I'm just dazed. >> What you want to do, man? Come on. Go ahead do it. Go ahead and Please. Please. >> Go ahead and do it or take a walk. No. Go ahead and do what you want to do or take a walk. >> Please. >> I got to take a walk. >> You're selling a ticket, man. You're selling a ticket. >> Can we get somebody with crowd control to TAKE OVER, PLEASE? I'M GOING TO SPRAY THIS GUY RIGHT HERE. >> I DID TASE YOU. I DID TASE YOU. HEY, BRO. I DID TASE YOU. >> I HAVE MULTIPLE UNITS coming in. >> I got time to talk. >> 187 headquarters, we have FD on the way. >> 10-4 and in. >> Hey. >> What do you want to You want to start You start with me? >> Let him get it. Let him get Tape this whole area off now. Anybody who's not providing first aid, get them out. I think he hit me in the he hit me in the I know he hit me in the back of my head. I started seeing stars. I went down. I tried to taze him. I was on my back and then I I fell out cuz he was going he was going he was going to knock me out, man. He he was going to knock me out. Everybody not providing first aid, step this way. >> The scene mirrored the old saying, "When you're reckless, it's like being dead. You don't feel the pain, but everyone else [music] does." And in this case, the very person who made the foolish choice was now staring down the barrel of a premature end. >> Anybody not providing first aid, step this way. That includes you, too, sir. Step this way. I'm not going to TELL YOU AGAIN. STEP this way. I'm not going to tell you to step Step this way, sir. Step this way, sir. I'll put my hands on you. Step this way. Stop playing stupid. Step this way. I need you to step this way. It's a crime scene. Please step this way, sir. Step this way. Are you providing aid, sir? Are you providing aid? Are you providing aid? Okay, step this way. Step this way. Step this way. Step this way. Sir, step this way. Sir, thank you, sir. Appreciate Outside the crime scene tape now. Outside the crime scene tape. Everybody outside the crime scene tape. Outside the crime scene tape. Outside the crime scene tape, please. Outside the crime scene tape, folks, please. Thank you. Outside the crime scene tape, sir. Thank you. What you going to do, man? WHAT YOU GOING TO DO? Outside the crime scene tape, sir. >> I'm I'm trying I don't have time to talk. >> I don't have time to Inside, okay? >> It's not touching me. It's not >> You're escalating. >> It's not about you. It's really not about you. It's not about you. Okay? Well, if I escalate, then go inside. GO INSIDE. THEN GO INSIDE. INSIDE NOW. EVERYBODY INSIDE. INSIDE, FOLKS. Thank you. >> Inside the building. >> You need a CFD, bro? All right, come on. Come on. All right, okay. I have a mild concussion or something. >> Huh? >> You you went black for for a couple seconds. He was going to kill >> Yo, he was going to He was damn serious, bro. >> I went down. He hit me so hard. He hit me so hard, I blacked out, bro. Hey, can we I blacked out. I ain't going to lie. >> All right, man. I got you. You all right, bro? >> Yeah, I'll show I had to do what I had to do, man. >> Daniel Knight, 39, later succumbed to his injuries at the Winter Park Event Center during his niece's wedding. As is standard procedure, the officers involved in the placed on administrative leave. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FDLE, is investigating [music] the incident, and the outcome of this investigation will decide what actions, if any, will be taken regarding the officers. Next day, a man who was ordered by the cops to come out of his house only to be sent right back inside [music] by a barrage of firearm discharges while his partner watched in horror. >> Come outside, James. Step outside the door onto the deck and show me your hands. Show us your hands. >> I don't have a I don't have a He's having >> On December the 12th, 2022, just before 11:20 p.m., a neighbor called 911 reporting that Klopfer had been fireworks, yelling threats, and discharging a firearm. >> Hey. What's going on? Hello. >> Hello. >> What is going on? I don't know. What is going on? >> What the [ __ ] >> What the [ __ ] What the hell? Oh, [ __ ] HE SHOT. WHAT THE HELL YOU DOING? [ __ ] ARE YOU KIDDING? HE SHOT. HE SHOT. YOU SHOT. OH, HE SHOT. I'm going to kill you. Oh, [ __ ] Oh. He can't. He shot. >> While his partner tried to explain to the officers and de-escalate the already chaotic situation, he remained there helpless hoping for the best until the officers arrived and witnessed their undoing. >> He shot, please. >> [screaming] >> He shot. He shot. I can't leave him. Jason, he can't breathe. [ __ ] He shot. Hands there. I don't know what to do. I don't know. >> Just when the officers thought that their nearly deadly blunder would never see the light of day, karma came knocking harder than ever. >> You can do a technician. >> Hey, bro. >> I got a camera right here. >> In the end, Jason Harley Klepper made full recovery, but at the time of making this video, the dust hasn't settled. Jason Klepper is dragging the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Police into court, slapping them with a 25-count lawsuit that accuses them of everything from trespassing to using excessive force and cooking up false reports. Although Jason's case was a close call, it didn't pack the same gut-wrenching punch as the man during a traffic stop with his girlfriend and her daughter helplessly watching and screaming in terror. >> Sir, I have to tell you I do have a >> Okay. >> firearm on me. >> Okay. Don't reach for it then. Don't pull it out. Don't pull it out. >> We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back. And the police just he's he's he's covered. He he killed boy. >> OH MY GOSH, DUDE. >> ON JULY THE 6TH, 2016 around 9:00 p.m., a simple traffic stop by a St. Anthony police officer in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, would soon make national headlines. Behind the wheel was a man driving with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter, and totally unaware that things were about to take a very gory turn for him. >> Oh, sir. Good. How are you? >> Good. >> All right. Reason I pulled you over is your your brake lights are out. So, you only have one activated active brake light, and that's going to be your passenger That one, your third brake light, which is up here on top, and then this one back here is going to be out. Do you have a license or insurance? >> Sir, I have to tell you I do have a >> Okay. >> firearm on me. >> Okay. Don't reach for it then. Don't pull it out. Don't pull it out. >> DON'T PULL IT OUT. DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE. CODE THREE. GET THE BABY GIRL OUT OF HERE. DON'T MOVE. THINK THAT I'M 21. CODE 911 CODE THREE. Shots fired. Mike, code three. Ma'am, just keep your hands WHERE THEY ARE. [screaming] I TOLD HIM NOT TO REACH FOR IT. I TOLD HIM TO GET his hand off of it. Just keep your hands where they are, please. >> [snorts] >> Despite everything, Philando's girlfriend kept her cool, composed in chaos. If only the officer had shown half that restraint, things might have ended differently. But she did the one thing every crooked cop dreads when caught in the act. >> Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back. And the police just he's he's he's covered. He My boyfriend He's licensed he's carried he's licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out his pocket and he let the officer know that he was he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet. And the officer just shot him in his arm. We're waiting for a back I will, sir. No worries. I will. He just his arm off. We got pulled over on Larpenteur. >> I told him not TO REACH FOR IT. I TOLD HIM TO GET HIS HAND OUT. >> HE had You told him to get his ID, sir, and his driver's license. Oh my god, please don't tell me he's Please don't tell me my boyfriend just went like that. >> Keep your hands where they are, please. >> Yes, I will, sir. I'll keep my hands where they are. Please don't tell me this, Lord. Please, Jesus, don't tell me that he's gone. Please don't tell me that he's gone. Please, officer, don't tell me that you just did this to him. You four bullets enter him, sir. He was just getting his license straight registration, sir. >> Get the female passenger out. >> Ma'am, exit the car right now with your hands up. Let me see your hands. Exit now. Keep them up. Keep them up. >> Where's my daughter? You got my daughter? >> Face away from me and walk backwards. Walk backwards. Ma'am, keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking. >> The man was 32-year-old Philando Castile, an African-American whose name would soon echo across the country. But the officer, quick to pull the trigger, failed to read the room. Fired shots that shattered more than silence. Even his partner stepped back. And when the dust settled, the calm didn't bring peace, only a situation that haunted everyone who stood there. >> Get a supervisor here. Uh cuff his mouth. Do you need more? >> [screaming] >> Cuff his hands. Let's use weight. >> Yep. >> All right. Okay. Can you see both his hands? I need somebody to get their gloves on. >> Are all officers up? >> Okay. >> Are all officers good? >> Okay. >> All officers good. >> All officers are good. We need a pull Linda off, Mark. >> I'm going to take your spot. I'm going spot. >> That's it. That's it. >> I'm going to take your spot, but that's it. I got your spot, okay? I got him. I GOT HIM. I GOT HIM HERE. >> YOU GOT HIM? >> I GOT HIM. I GOT HIM, BUDDY. I GOT HIM. >> GOOD. >> COME ON. >> Just >> Yeah. >> Talk. >> All right. >> Dude, All right. You're going to You're not hitting any arteries. >> Oh my god. >> [ __ ] that guy. >> You need to control everybody so >> Yeah, I got him. I got him. >> You got him? >> Yeah. >> Good. >> Do you have Hold the [ __ ] guy be at HIS HAND NOW. >> OH MY GOSH. >> [ __ ] THAT. >> [screaming] >> OH MY GOSH, DUDE. LET'S GET SOME MORE SQUADS HERE SO WE CAN block off everybody here over there. >> We got that blocked off down there. We got it blocked off here. Someone move a squad up alongside over there. Squad up. Block that. Anybody able to move a squad up to block? We need someone across. >> Street. >> What location are you at that you have it closed? >> Boulevard and Queen Mary. Uh just past Holland. >> 10-20 82 advise on that. >> We're seeing heavy traffic. >> Copy that. >> 5185. 5185 we see traffic blocked off on both Can we get a >> Copy, we're going to keep all the traffic blocked off here. >> Are you able to move a squad up so they're not all filling in? >> I'm right now. >> Maybe mine or something? >> We need you to breathe. Okay? Breathe. Which direction did you fire your weapon? >> Right at the driver. I had it right out. >> Okay. >> I had it pointed down. I don't know how many rounds I let out of him. I don't know. >> Okay. So, you were I just need to know which one is your car right here. >> Mine's the one that pulled him over. >> So, you pointed it directly ahead of you? >> Just directly ahead of him. I had it at my waist. >> Was he sitting in the car with you? >> He was sitting in the car, seat belted. I told him that's your license. And then from me, he had a firearm. I told him not to reach for it. >> Officer Yanez fired seven times at close range, hitting Philando Castile. Two shots critically wounded him. Within 20 minutes, Philando was passed on. In the end, Officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for endangering Philando's girlfriend and her little daughter, who were also in the car. But, despite the charges, he was acquitted on all counts in June 2017 after a jury trial.