Deadly police shooting at Winter Park wedding ruled justified, state attorney says

Daniel Knight, 39, was shot and killed at his niece’s wedding in Feb. 2022

‘He was a kind, gentle soul:’ Man fatally shot by police at Winter Park wedding reception

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Florida State Attorney’s Office has determined no laws were broken by police during the shooting that resulted in the death of a man at a Winter Park wedding last year.

According to a news release, the Winter Park Police Department received the final SAO report Tuesday, regarding the shooting that happened just a year prior.

Last February, officers were responding to calls of an assault at a wedding at the Winter Park Event Center, when they got into an altercation with 39-year-old Daniel Knight, who was the uncle of the bride.

According to the shooting investigation report, Knight was screaming and standing face-to-face with his sister, and as officers approached, he said, “I don’t give a (expletive) who is behind me.”

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Knight then began pointing his finger at an officer, and an officer immediately told Knight to back up and Knight’s sister to move away, the report shows.

Investigators said an officer pulled the sister toward himself to get her away from Knight, though Knight grabbed her other arm and pulled her toward himself, yelling, “Don’t you snatch my (explicit) sister.”

While the sister and other guests tried to calm Knight down, he instead punched an officer in the face, knocking the officer unconscious and prompting another officer to deploy his Taser, the investigative report shows.

However, investigators said the Taser was unable to restrain Knight, and Knight moved toward the officer. The officer then fired his gun, which struck Knight five times, investigators said.

Knight was transferred to AdventHealth Orlando, where he later died from his injuries, police said.

Family members of Knight, however, claim that no officers were knocked unconscious.

[WATCH BELOW: Winter Park police release body-camera video of deadly officer shooting at wedding reception]

According to the release, Winter Park PD has started the process of completing an internal investigation to determine whether any of the department’s policies were violated.

No further information has been released.

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About the Authors

Penny De La Cruz started working at WKMG-TV in September 2021. Before joining News 6, Penny worked at KSAT 12 in San Antonio, Texas.

Anthony, a graduate of the University of Florida, joined ClickOrlando.com in April 2022.

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