In the weeks following the shooting of James "Matt" Perdue by BSO deputies in Hollywood, little information has been released, except for testimonials by a few family members to Perdue's once peaceful life as a family man. At last check, BSO was still conducting an internal investigation and was not releasing any incident reports or further data, as is their policy after a deputy-involved shooting. Often, in a case like this where the victim has a criminal background (unprescribed drug possession, in Perdue's case), this is the last step before the incident is forgotten and BSO sends out another news release about how to safely fry turkeys.
We have been skeptical of early attempts by BSO and the daily papers to label Perdue's death a suicide, since little information was released about Perdue's mental background. But last weekend, New Times received an anonymous
voice-mail message from an older-sounding woman who claimed to know Perdue's family.
"This is anonymous," she stated in a voice mail left on a Saturday afternoon."Matt Perdue's father and uncle were career law enforcement," she continued. "I suspect that Matt knew what to expect from law enforcement better than the average person on the street."
We have not been able to confirm this with other members of Perdue's family. As always, people willing to be identified as friends or family of Perdue are encouraged to call us at 954-233-1573.
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