Gunman in Florida “stand your ground” shooting speaks out

A white man facing criminal charges for fatally shooting an unarmed black man in a Florida convenience store’s parking lot told CBS affiliate WTSP-TV he wouldn’t change what he did but apologized to the dead man’s family. Michael Drejka initially wasn’t arrested for killing Markeis McGlockton in July because of the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.

Surveillance video shows Drejka appearing to yell at McGlockton’s girlfriend for parking in a handicapped spot. McGlockton then shoves Drejka to the ground.

From the ground, Drejka pulls out his gun and shoots McGlockton. “I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, but as far as changing anything as events … I don’t see, I really, no, not off the top of my head,” Drejka told WTSP-TV in an interview at the Pinellas County Jail on Friday.

Drejka was charged with manslaughter nearly a month after the shooting and is being held on $100,000 bond. Florida’s “stand your ground” law allows people to use deadly force when fearing “imminent death or great bodily harm” without a duty to try to escape the danger.

MORE: 3 drivers say man charged in “stand your ground” shooting threatened them

“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.”

Drejka said he’s not a racist and apologized to McGlockton’s family. “I’m sorry,” Drejka said.

“It’s all I can really say to them, and thinking about it would you accept those kind of words from someone? I don’t think I would.”

Drejka said the way handicapped parking spots are “abused” has been a sensitive issue for him. He described his deceased high school sweetheart and his mother-in-law as handicapped.

MORE: Man charged in Clearwater ‘Stand Your Ground’ shooting

“It’s always been a hotbed for me,” Drejka said. “My whole life has always been looking for a handicapped parking spot, and it’s always touched a nerve with me because of the way they’re abused and used.”

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.