DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A friend of accused gunman Othal Wallace is demanding to know what led up to the shooting of a Daytona Beach police officer on Wednesday.
DBPD said Wallace — also known as Ozone — was seen on body camera footage shooting officer Jayson Raynor on Wednesday night as Raynor approached Wallace in his car.
“I want to get his part of the story out without him getting killed by the police because that’s what the police are trying to do,” Brandon Oliver said. “He’s a great father. He’s a great guy in the community. This has never happened before.”
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Oliver said he’s concerned about the events that led police to Wallace in the first place, which he said were not shown in the police body camera footage.
“You got to look at the whole story from the way I’m looking at my brother’s situation,” he said. “You’re sitting in your car, minding your own business, and the police never even got a call to the area. They were never called. He said he was patrolling the area. You see my brother in a car, and then that gives your right to go bother him?”
DBPD said Raynor was on patrol when he went to investigate what they called suspicious activity.
“Why was the police officer even bothering him in the first place? Why did you respond with the officer shining his light in the vehicle? Why was the police officer there?” he said. “It’s two sides to every story. Ozone would never shoot a police with no reason. It would have to be a damn good reason because he feared for his life.”
The search for Wallace continues throughout the state of Florida and into Atlanta, where a Be On The Lookout alert was issued to Atlanta Metro Police.
“Nobody wants him killed, and if anything, Ozone, I will tell you turn yourself in to the police,” Oliver said. “Turn yourself in to the police because the only thing they want do is kill you.”