‘I had to do it:’ Police investigate video of deadly downtown Melbourne shooting

MELBOURNE, Fla. – This weekend will be the first at a well-known spot where young people like to go out late since a deadly shooting.

As some who own bars worry how many people will still come out, News 6 has learned a video of the shooting is now part of evidence.

Melbourne police said a Stephan Dieujuste, 24, claimed self-defense when he killed a Nate Jennings, 19, in a confrontation near a parking lot.

In the newly obtained video, someone is heard asking, “Did he shoot him?”

News 6 is not showing the part of the video that shows the shooting itself.

“This was a random act, as tragic as it was, and it could have happened at any place in any part of this city at any time,” bar owner Randy Bennett said at a city council meeting this week.

Bennett owns the bar that’s closest to the parking lot where the shooting happened.

He also addressed council members a couple of years ago at City Hall after a different late-night weekend shooting downtown.

This week, he told the city council he thinks bad people will misbehave no matter how much security is added.

[WATCH BELOW TO VIEW SURVEILLANCE VIDEO IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE DEADLY SHOOTING]

The police told News 6 reporter James Sparvero they responded to the shooting in seconds.

And since the shootings downtown in 2022 and 2023, the city has put its own cameras on the streets.

“You can stop an army, you can stop a gang, but you can’t stop one single a-hole that is looking to do harm,” Bennett said.

 According to his arrest report, Dieujuste apologized to officers for shooting Jennings.

It read, “I’m sorry. I had to do it. He ran up on me.”

Early Thursday morning, records show Dieujuste posted his $100,000 bond on a manslaughter charge and walked out of jail.

Under the conditions of his bond, he’s not allowed to have guns or any other weapons.