Hours after the scene cleared, eyewitnesses packed the police headquarters to give their accounts of what happened, and Beckley and two other officers squeezed into the only space available, a small supply room, with their lieutenant, Brian Fanelli. Beckley told Fanelli he shot Hess (in photo) because he thought Hess was an aggressor. Beckley wasn’t sure why Hess “had placed himself in front of that car.” Fanelli told him not to worry because he didn’t shoot Hess, but rather, Hess’s knee was injured when DJ Henry sped into him with his car, which is why Hess had to shoot into the car in the first place.

No, Beckley said, that’s not what happened. Fanelli then told Beckley he’d call the hospital to check. He stepped out in the hall, spoke on his cell phone for a few minutes, and returned to again tell Beckley that he hadn’t shot Hess. Relieved, Beckley left the room, changed into civilian clothes, and turned in his weapon. Meanwhile, Fanelli wrote a statement saying that Beckley believed he was going to be killed by the car moving toward him. That statement would inform Police Chief Louis Alagno’s press conference several hours later.

Later that morning, Alagno told reporters that DJ Henry had been driving recklessly through the parking lot and had hit the officers with his car. When Beckley called Chief Alagno on Monday morning, Alagno said he couldn’t talk to him and that Beckley should find a lawyer. Beckley never returned to work. In December, he submitted his papers for retirement and officially left the force a month later.