"Stand your ground" shooting victim's family disgusted by gunman's apology, lawyer says
The family of a Florida man who was shot and killed during a dispute over a parking space, said they won't accept an apology from the shooter. Michael Drejka initially wasn't arrested for the death of Markeis McGlockton in July because of the state's "stand your ground" law.
Surveillance video showed Drejka confronting McGlockton's girlfriend for parking in a handicapped space. McGlockton shoved Drejka to the ground, and that's when Drejka pulled out a gun and shot McGlockton.
In a recent jailhouse interview with CBS affiliate WTSP-TV, Drejka said "I am sorry."
"That is all I can really say to them and thinking about it would you accept those kinds of words from someone? I don't think I would," he added.
According to CBS affiliate WFOR-TV, Michele Rayner, the McGlockton's attorney, said the family is disgusted by the apology.
"There is nothing that he could ever really say that would suffice," Rayner said. "It won't bring their child back and obviously, you know, he is very nonchalant about it."
Rayner said Drejka didn't appear to show any remorse in the interview he gave.
"He was more concerned about his dogs, animals, than him having taken someone else's life," said Rayner. "And I think that is consistent with what we have seen about him."
In the interview, Drejka said he thought he had been tackled by McGlockton and feared for his life.
"I was very scared," Drejka told WTSP-TV. "I've never been confronted like that or never been assaulted like that, if you will, ever ... It felt like I was tackled or someone hit me from behind with something. I left my feet and slid along the ground before I was able to- but, yes, I was stunned, yeah."
Authorities have said in court documents that Drejka has been in confrontations with three other drivers. Two motorists accused Drejka of waving a gun at them, and a truck driver accused Drejka of threatening to shoot him for parking in the same handicapped parking spot as McGlockton's girlfriend three months before the July shooting.
He's charged with manslaughter and being held on $100,000 bond.