JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A 29-year-old man charged with wounding a Jacksonville Beach police officer during a 2018 gun battle outside a Waffle House has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Duval County court records.
Jovan Sisljagic remains behind bars for now after Circuit Court Judge Adrian Soud committed him to a state mental hospital, a year and a half after he was sent to one with the hope of restoring his competency to go to trial.
The judge's Nov. 20 order committing Sisljagic spells out the reasons. The order stated Sisljagic, born in Bosnia, will deteriorate if "allowed to remain in the community."
"The defendant suffers from a major mental illness and because of this mental illness is manifestly dangerous to himself and others," the judge's order states.
The confrontation started just before 10 p.m. Aug. 8, 2018, when a police officer in his marked K-9 unit vehicle realized someone was shooting at him, police said at the time. Officer Benjamin Gray confronted Sisljagic, who shot at him again before fleeing through a Publix supermarket parking lot on Beach Boulevard. Other officers joined the chase and engaged in a running gun battle, with two cruisers hit by bullets.
Cpl. William Eierman was nearby when he heard the shots and radio call. He and Sisljagic then traded gunfire in the Waffle House parking lot at 334 Beach Blvd., police said. Eierman was struck in the leg and pelvic area, while Sisljagic was hit in the shoulder, foot and side. Two other officers fired shots, although no one else was injured.
Charged with attempted murder, Sisljagic was sent to a state mental hospital in April 2019 after Soud accepted the findings of two psychiatrists who deemed him incompetent for trial. A request for a court-appointed psychiatric exam to determine Sisljagic’s "sanity or insanity" was filed on Jan. 7 by the judge.
On May 6, Sisljagic’s attorney filed notice that he intended to establish his client's insanity, including issues of depression, paranoia and schizoactive disorder, court records show.
Officials said the shooting of an officer was the first in at least 60 years at Jacksonville Beach.
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