It's rare that a police officer shoots a suspect. Even rarer that a suspect shoots a police officer. But sadly, 3 Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputies died in shoot-outs with suspects in the last 18-months. Do those types of tragedies have an affect their fellow officers in the field? It's the focus of the second part of our series "Deadly Force."

During a two month period this summer, there were three officer-involved shootings, one each in Bay, Jackson and Walton counties. We wanted to know if the three deputy deaths in Okaloosa County played a role in the minds of other officers, and what the status is of those recent shootings.

On July 3rd Bay County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a domestic violence call on Bertha Nelson Road in Bayou George. After shooting a high powered rifle into the air, Dustin Garland, 27, turned the gun on the officers. Deputy Chad Vidrine shot him several times, hitting Garland with a number of the shots. Garland survived. The FDLE conducted an investigation, then turned their findings over to the state attorney's office.
"The officer has been cleared and he was justified in the amount of force that he used," explained Renee Hatton of the FDLE.

One month later on August 3rd, Jeffrey Weekley was shot by Walton County Sheriff's Deputy Nick Embry during a domestic dispute call in Freeport. Dispatchers told Embry that Weekley was armed with a knife. When Weekley allegedly reached into his pocket, Embry shot him twice in the chest. "The officer was found justified in use of force by the first circuit of the state attorneys office," said Hatton.

On September 4th Marianna police say they spotted 31-year-old Mark Anthony Daniels speeding through an area know for drug activity. When officers tried to stop Daniels, he allegedly rammed a patrol car with his SUV. That's when Marianna Police Officer Bliss Moreau fired at the SUV, hitting Daniels at least once, killing him. "That case is still pending investigation, the results have not been turned over to the state attorney office yet," said Hatton.

In any of these case, did the shooting death of the three Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputies have anything to do with the willingness of these officer to draw their weapons and use deadly force? There's no way to know for sure. But Panama City Police Sergeant Jeffrey Becker say the answer is most likely, no. "The truth of the matter is as tragic as an officer being killed is, and it's very tragic, I don't want anyone to die. If it was a perfect world no one would die, but we can't have that, that is not realistic. But the truth of the matter is I don't think it plays a role when we hear that because we get accustomed to hearing it. It's sad but it's true."

Becker says when officers say goodbye to their families each morning, they believe they'll return home safely each night. "Every one of us believes that. If we didn't believe that we couldn't get in the car each day. We would be frozen by fear." It's their desire to serve and protect that keeps them going each day. "The most important purpose of law enforcement is the protection of life, so that is why people do this job."

There is a common misconception that the FDLE "polices" the police when there is an officer involved shooting. That is not the case. The FDLE does not press charges. They simply conduct the investigation, turn the evidence over to the state attorney's office and they determine if the use of force was justified.