Family of man who police shot and killed at a wedding sues city

Daniel Knight, 39, was shot five times by a Winter Park Police officer in 2022

Feb. 23, 2024

By Beth Kassab

The family of a man who was shot and killed by a Winter Park Police officer at his niece’s wedding reception is suing the city in federal court on claims of wrongful death and a violation of the man’s federal civil rights.

Daniel Knight, 39, died on Feb. 19, 2022 after two officers responded to a 911 call from the Winter Park Events Center, where the wedding reception was underway.

The suit, filed by Melissa Cruz, who is the mother of Knight’s two minor children, questions the actions of the officers, who took just 67 seconds from the time they approached Knight until he was shot. Knight has an adult child who is also part of the claim.

City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said she could not comment on pending litigation.

The federal complaint alleges that the member of the city’s event staff who called 911 and reported Knight was “irate” and becoming violent was “not justified” in calling law enforcement because “she did not personally observe Mr. Knight posing an actual threat to anyone.”

When police arrived, body camera footage and footage from the venue shows that Knight, who was intoxicated, had been standing outside away from anyone else and then was standing next to his sister, Katrina Knight.

The lawsuit claims the officers “aggressively approached” Knight event though they could tell he was “mentally compromised” from drinking. The family asserts the officers failed to deescalate the situation and intensified matters by rushing to handcuff Knight even though they had not observed him posing a threat to anyone.

The Orange County State Attorney cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing last year, finding they acted reasonably with force after Knight failed to obey their commands and, at one point, struck one of the officers causing him to fall and briefly become unconscious. An internal police department review also cleared the officers.

Experts in de-escalation tactics and advocates for police reform told the Voice last year that officers could have taken a different approach and avoided a physical confrontation. Central principles of police de-escalation typically call for officers to slow down and maintain space between themselves and subjects they are confronting.

“The video of Winter Park police shooting Daniel Knight is extremely disturbing and devastating. Police tased and then shot Mr. Knight within a few seconds of each other while his family was physically shielding him from police with their own bodies,” stated N.R. Hines, criminal justice policy strategist at the ACLU of Florida. “That the Winter Park Police Department and the State Attorney’s Office decided that these events did not violate Florida law further speaks to the need for more training in de-escalation tactics statewide. It is unconscionable that Mr. Knight needed to lose his life during a family wedding.”

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