Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Authorities confirmed that a Jupiter police officer was placed on paid leave after fatally shooting a man in a West Palm Beach motel parking lot Friday — contradicting a police spokeswoman’s previous claim that no department officers have been put on leave this month.

Officer Sally Collins, the Jupiter police department’s spokeswoman, told the Post in response to a public records request Tuesday that no officers had been placed on administrative leave in August. At the time, it was unclear what department the officer involved in the shooting was employed by.

But after sources told the Post that it was a Jupiter police officer who shot and killed Donovan Brooks, 40, at the Days Inn at 2300 45th Street, the sheriff’s office on Wednesday disclosed that the shooter was a Jupiter cop and that he had been placed on paid administrative leave soon after the shooting.

Collins did not return three calls for comment Wednesday.

Authorities declined to release the officer’s identity, claiming that to do so could jeopardize his safety and the integrity of ongoing criminal investigations.

The shooting occurred early Friday during an undercover drug investigation involving the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and several local law enforcement agencies.

According to court records, Donovan and another man were attempting to buy marijuana from an undercover agent working with a drug dealer who had been recently arrested. The shooting occurred after Brooks and his alleged accomplice were ordered to get on the ground in the parking lot.