Nobody saw anyone being handcuffed. Officer Gant was moving into a position of cover. He was coming around a planter with a tree in it. His view was partially obstructed when the shot was fired. Sgt. Reed was in the arrest process.
It is true that Perry March was named as a suspect in this case in search warrant documentation in mid-September of 1996, but to assume or presume that a police officer was with Perry March every second of the day in August and September of 1996 would not be correct.