LARGO, Fla. _ Michael Drejka, the man who shot and killed Markeis McGlockton in a case that set off a national debate about self-defense in July, was released from the Pinellas County Jail on Monday afternoon.
Drejka paid bail, according to jail records. He was being held on $100,000 bail on a manslaughter charge. He was booked into the jail more than a month ago, on Aug. 13.
Weeks earlier, the 48-year-old had shot and killed McGlockton, 28, in an argument over a handicap-reserved parking space at a convenience store near Clearwater. Investigators said Drejka approached McGlockton's girlfriend after she had parked in the space outside the Circle A Food Store on Sunset Point Road without a placard or handicap-designated license plate.
McGlockton walked outside, according to surveillance footage of the incident. He shoved Drejka to the ground. Drejka drew a .40-caliber Glock and shot McGlockton, who police say had begun to back away when he saw the gun.
The next day, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said he would refer the case to the state attorney's office, declining to make an arrest because he said Florida's controversial stand your ground law might apply. Within days, McGlockton's death drew protests over what critics called racial injustice and a flawed law. Every candidate for governor weighed in, and the Rev. Al Sharpton held a rally at a Clearwater church.
Drejka was arrested more than three weeks later. He told investigators he fired one shot when he thought he saw McGlockton take a step toward him on the ground, records show.
