Derrick C. Ford

Deadly force

Derrick Ford and his friends were standing outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars clubhouse. They heard gunshots from the west side of Winter Street, where a group of people were gathered. Two individuals, unrelated to Ford and his friends, had been involved in a verbal altercation, and one had shot the other. Upon hearing the gunshots, Ford and friends decided to leave the VFW. The four men headed toward the green Ford Taurus that Dana Jones had driven to the VFW. Detective Mark Gerardot allegedly ran past the group of people gathered on Winter Street and instead followed Ford and friends as they proceeded toward the Taurus. As he was unlocking the driver's side door of his car, Jones heard someone command, "Freeze!" As Ford was turning with his hands in the air, Detective Gerardot shot and killed him. No gun was recovered from Ford.