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September 25, 2005

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Fla. officer fatally shot by city police before college football game

Officer Down: Mario Jenkins - [Orlando, Florida]

Update:

Photos Show Moments Before Officer Shot By OPD

Biographical Info

Age: 29

Additional Info: Officer Jenkins was a four-year veteran with the University of Central Florida police. He leaves behind a wife.

Incident Details

Cause of Death: Officer Jenkins was accidentally shot and killed by an Orlando officer at the Florida Citrus Bowl football game. Jenkins had been working undercover and was in plain clothes at the time of the shooting.

Date of Incident: September 24, 2005

The Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla.- A University of Central Florida police officer was shot to death by an Orlando police officer outside the Citrus Bowl as fans were arriving for a college football game Saturday, authorities said.

The dead UCF officer was identified as Mario Jenkins, 27, a four-year veteran with the university police. He was shot by Dennis Smith, a reserve officer for the Orlando Police Department.

Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the incident started when Jenkins, who had been working undercover, attempted to break up a tailgate party. When he encountered resistance, they said, he fired three shots into the air. Officer Dennis Smith then saw the man with the gun and shot him several times, the newspaper said.

Authorities believed a third person was involved, said Barbara Jones, spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. Jones refused to say if the person was injured.

A telephone message left Saturday night for the UCF Police Department was not immediately returned.

The shooting occurred before the University of Central Florida's victory over Marshall University.

"It's pretty freaky. You don't think you would see this at a UCF game," junior Nicole Jorgensen, 22, of Melbourne.

Additional reporting by PoliceOne

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