FBI Reviewing Police Shooting of Florida Man Jermaine McBean...

F.B.I. Investigating 2013 Fatal Police Shooting in Florida

The F.B.I. is investigating the 2013 police shooting death of Jermaine McBean, the South Florida computer engineer who was photographed as he lay dying, in an image that suggested that Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies may have tampered with evidence and lied under oath, court records filed on Tuesday show.

The federal investigation was started at the request of the United States federal Justice Department to determine whether Mr. McBean’s civil rights were violated, according to a June 26 letter sent to Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County by the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Miami division.

The F.B.I. requested a copy of the local agency’s file.

Although the letter specifically said it was not to be distributed outside the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, it was included in a motion filed Tuesday in which the office sought to delay a federal civil wrongful death case filed by Mr. McBean’s family. The sheriff’s lawyers argued that the civil case should be paused, because federal and state criminal cases were pending.

Mr. McBean, 33, was shot two years ago as he walked through his apartment complex with an unloaded air rifle propped across his shoulders.

The patrolman who shot him, Peter Peraza, said Mr. McBean ignored three deputies who shouted from behind for him to drop the weapon. He said several times under oath that there was no reason for Mr. McBean to have not heard the commands.

“O.K. so when you approached him did you see anything that would’ve obstructed his ability to hear?” an investigator asked Deputy Peraza in a videotaped interview.

“No,” he replied.

“So there was nothing in his ears that you saw?”

“No.”

But a nurse who lived nearby and was angry because she said the officers would not let her render medical aid took a picture of Mr. McBean as he lay bleeding with two deputies at his side. The photograph showed Mr. McBean was wearing earbuds.

The earbuds were later found at the hospital in Mr. McBean’s pocket, documents show.

His family argues that the earphones prove that Mr. McBean was listening to music and did not hear the deputies when they ordered him to drop the air rifle, and someone at the Broward Sheriff’s Office deliberately removed them to cover up a mistake.

Mr. McBean’s mother filed a federal wrongful death suit against the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Peraza, accusing them of tampering with the evidence and perjury. The agency responded to the suit by saying that Mr. McBean’s actions made him responsible for his own death.

The deputy and a lieutenant who witnessed the shooting claimed that Mr. McBean had pointed the rifle at them, but witnesses disputed that account. Within weeks, the lieutenant then nominated Deputy Peraza for a bravery award.

In a statement last month responding to an article in The New York Times that revealed the existence of the photograph, the sheriff claimed the newspaper had “unfairly categorized” the evidence.

“Detectives are on fact-finding missions. They exhausted all investigative leads, took dozens of statements and turned the case over to the state attorney’s office for its independent review and subsequent grand jury review,” Sheriff Israel said. “There was no cover-up.”

He later acknowledged that the bravery award was “premature.”

A lawyer for Mr. McBean’s family, David I. Schoen, said the civil case should proceed despite the criminal investigations. He said the family was pleased that the F.B.I. had taken up the case, because the county had a poor track record for investigating police shootings.

“They already have seen indisputable evidence of the Broward Sheriff Office’s efforts to cover up what really happened here and believe outside oversight is essential,” Mr. Schoen said. “For almost two years the local prosecutors have had a chance to investigate.”

The local prosecutor did not contact any witnesses until The Times began making inquiries, he said.

The Broward County prosecutor has not indicted any officer in a fatal shooting since 1980, a period that included 168 police killings.