The Michael Drejka Case

By Shawn Vincent

In 2018, at a convenience store in Clearwater, Florida, Michael Drejka confronted Britany Jacobs for improperly parking in a handicapped parking space. When Jacobs’ partner, Markeis McGlockton, came out of the store, he saw Drejka arguing with her, standing a few steps away from Jacobs’ open driver’s side window. Security camera footage shows McGlockton walking swiftly towards Drejka and violently shoving him to the ground. As Drejka scrambles to a sitting position, McGlockton steps closer, looming above him. Prone and unable to escape—fearing McGlockton would press the attack—Drejka draws his pistol and points it at his attacker’s chest.

The security footage reveals that once McGlockton sees the pistol, he takes a few steps backwards. McGlockton’s demeanor changes. His threatening posture melts away. Drejka pauses for a moment, and then he fires a single round. Mortally wounded, McGlockton clutches his chest and scrambles into the convenience store. There, a second camera captures him falling to the ground, where he dies at the feet of his five-year-old son.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri declined to charge Michael Drejka, citing Florida’s stand-your-ground law—although he did express reservations at a press conference where he told reporters, “I’m a big believer in this adage that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. This case may be an example of that.” He also referenced the security footage that showed Drejka pause before firing. “That pause gives me pause,” he said.

Sheriff Gualtieri didn’t get the final word on charging Drejka. After the press conference, Gualtieri turned the investigation over to State Attorney Bernie McCabe. McCabe found evidence that Drejka had frequent disputes at the convenience store and that he had threatened other drivers in the past. The State Attorney felt Drejka had been looking for a fight, and Markeis McGlockton finally gave him one. McCabe charged Drejka with manslaughter.

A year later, Drejka stood trial for the shooting of Markeis McGlockton. The jury deliberated for six and a half hours. After the first hour, as a juror later told reporters, the panel was split. However, after watching the 11-second surveillance video “at least two or three hundred times,” jurors settled on a unanimous verdict: guilty. Juror Timothy Kleinmann said, “He had time to think, ‘Do I really have to kill this man?’ And no, he didn’t, but he chose to.” An alternate juror who witnessed the entire trial said, “The defendant had enough time to make the decision that once he saw the victim retreating, that he did not have to pull the trigger.” Another alternate juror agreed and told reporters, “I think he had the opportunity not to kill him.” The jury found Drejka guilty of manslaughter. The judge sentenced the 49-year-old defendant to twenty years in prison.

The Goal of Self-Defense is to Break Contact (Lesson 1): When Drejka drew his pistol, McGlockton responded by stepping back. At that moment, Drejka had succeeded in breaking contact with the attacker, but he chose to fire anyway.

The Belief in Imminent Harm or Death Must Be Reasonable (Lesson 5): The sheriff and several jurors each felt that Drejka paused and had a moment to reflect on whether McGlockton still posed a threat after stepping backwards, and they concluded Drejka should have realized the threat was no longer imminent, and so they found his decision to fire was unreasonable.

Don’t Shoot AFTER the Threat Is Over (Lesson 7): Self-defense encounters are often fast-moving, dynamic scenarios, and the window of justification for using deadly force can close as quickly as it opens. The window of justification in the Drejka case closed when McGlockton stepped backwards, meaning Drejka shot after the threat was over.

Maintain Situational Awareness (Lesson 9): Drejka was so engrossed in his argument with Jacobs that he never noticed McGlockton marching up to him, and he was caught completely off guard when McGlockton pushed him to the ground.

Don’t Start Needless Arguments (Lesson 12): While Drejka was within his rights to confront Jacobs about parking in the handicapped parking spot, he wasn’t particularly wise to start an argument with a stranger. At sentencing, the judge noted that Drejka had also parked illegally. Drejka would have avoided the whole encounter if he had simply minded his own business.

Defensive Display Is a Viable Alternative (Lesson 22): When Drejka drew his pistol, he probably didn’t mean for it to be a defensive display, but it had the practical effect of deterring McGlockton from pressing the attack. By accident, Drejka demonstrated how a defensive display can effectively break contact with an aggressor.