FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A suspended Broward Sheriff's Office deputy testified Thursday that he feared for his life when he fatally shot a man carrying an unloaded air rifle.
Deputy Peter Peraza faces a manslaughter charge in the July 2013 shooting of Jermaine McBean.
Peraza, 37, is seeking a pretrial dismissal of the charge under Florida's "stand your ground" law.
"He's going to kill me," Peraza said while testifying what he was thinking when he was confronted by McBean. "He's going to kill somebody."
Peraza described the events that prompted him to shoot and kill McBean, 33, in an Oakland Park apartment complex. Peraza testified that McBean turned and pointed the gun at him and his fellow deputies.
"My focus is now solely on the rifle and his hands," Peraza said. "His hands are kind of draped over the rifle."
Peraza's attorney contends that the deputy shot McBean in self-defense.
The McBean family insists that McBean never pointed the rifle at the deputy and likely couldn't hear deputies' commands to drop the gun because he was wearing earbuds.
"I felt like the weapon was pointed at me, and at that time is when I fired," Peraza said.
A witness at the scene told Local 10 News investigative reporter Bob Norman that he never saw McBean point the rifle at anyone.
If a Broward County judge rules in Peraza's favor, the charge will be dropped and there will be no trial. If convicted, Peraza faces up to 30 years in prison.
"I really felt that I could be killed," Peraza said.