Police Brutality / Individual record
Robert Dentmond
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Robert Dentmond in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-03-20 in Gainesville, FL. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-389
- Incident date
- March 20, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Gainesville, FL
- Agency
- Alachua County Sheriff's Office; Gainesville Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 16
What happened
Robert Dentmond, 16, was killed by Gainesville police and Alachua County sheriff's deputies at Majestic Oaks Apartments, Florida, on March 20, 2016. A high-school student, Dentmond called 911 saying he wanted to die and possessed an M16-style rifle. Police said negotiators spoke with him for approximately 20 minutes; he initially set down an object resembling a rifle, later retrieved it and moved toward occupied apartments. Nine deputies and officers fired their weapons, killing him. The gun proved to be a realistic replica. A Florida grand jury returned no indictment and found the use of deadly force legally justified in September 2016; agency reviewers also found no policy violation. The documented suicide crisis, his age and replica weapon are essential to understanding the case despite those official decisions.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1394
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- replica
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 1180;1181
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset