Posted on 12/10/2013 2:59:21 PM PST by markomalley
A 23-year-old Texas university student was shot dead by a police officer during an altercation in which the unarmed and usually mild-mannered student allegedly assault the officer and asked, Oh, youre going to shoot me?
The officer did in fact shoot him six times, killing him.
Robert Cameron Redus is an honors student at the University of the Incarnate Word, a private Catholic institution in San Antonio, Texas. Reduss friends describe him as not aggressive, gentle, and well-liked, according to local news.
UIW police officer Chris Carter pulled over Redus at 2:00 a.m. on Friday night for unknown reasons. The argument between the two quickly became heated, and Redus attacked, according to an Alamo Heights Police Department press conference. Redus successfully wrestled Carters police baton out of his hands, and started beating him over the head with it.
Carter reacquired the baton, and told Redus that he would open fire if the student refused to surrender. According to Police Chief Richard Pruitt, Redus charged the officer once again, forcing Carter to shoot him.
A neighbor who overheard the exchange said that Redus asked the officer if he was going to shoot.
I heard [a man] say, Oh, youre gonna shoot me? like sarcastic almost, said the neighbor.
Carter fired six times.
Devastated friends described Reduss alleged behavior that night as strange, given the students usual demeanor.
Hes not an aggressive person at all, said Sarah Davis, in a statement to local news. The story just doesnt really make sense to any of us.
The officer in question has been placed on leave pending an investigation. The university said that Carter has an extensive law enforcement background. But according to the San Antonio News, Carter has held eight different jobs in his eight years as an officer.
The police department did not respond to a request for comment.
I think the writer should have used 'was' instead of 'is'.
Never seen one walk away after being attacked...never. Nor should they...ever
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Agree.
And, Knarf and others......STOP referring to the 22-23 y/o as a “kid”. He was an adult man (and possibly larger than the cop).
Article on this I read on FR Monday indicated the cop was after him for speeding and finally pulled him over about 1 mile from the campus. It also indicated that the cop’s video cam had previously been reported as inoperative and needed to be fixed.
In the same situation, after being assaulted and hit with the baton, I would have kept shooting until the criminal was down and no longer a threat.
I don’t take up for LEOs that shoot harmless dogs, break down doors to enter homes of innocents, etc., but it’s sad to see how many here demean the LEO for what appears to be self defense against physical assault.
Assuming of course that he had access to such a device.
Wow...that one really took a lot of thought, didn't it? Go back to DU.
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There is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why a good kid would go off on a cop...he could very well have been lit on some kind of mind-altering drug. Toxicology will prove or disprove that. I'll wait until some facts come in before I convict the man.
Yeah, I know...facts are inconvenient and not any fun for cop-haters.
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Dunno what really happened. BUT - instead of the cop “being placed on leave pending an investigation”, shouldn’t he be “in custody pending an investigation”. God forbid that this cop is really crazy and he kills somebody else.
You are partially correct, my cop bias is only for those cops who use their badge to abuse their authority. I’m not trying to be haughty but at the very least especially with law enforcement, it should be what is right, not who has the authority. Authoritarian minded cops are corruptible if not already corrupt and all too often the citizen(s) pays the price for their Little Tin god mind set. I know some good cops and I know some really good cops and I’m sure we all know cops who should not be cops at all.
Where is the evidence of bruises from the baton? Produce the photos.
I can think of a high-profile case recently in which the defendant had killed someone, and was convicted in the court of public opinion long before he was eventually acquitted. Care to guess which case that was? Give you a hint: your argument against the cop in this story makes about as much sense as the arguments of Jesse Jackass, Al Charlatan, and The Obammunist in the other.
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I agree with the Stand Your Ground law and it may well be this university cop felt his life was in immediate danger. According to the cop’s report released this morning, the student was pulled over for driving erratically. The cop said he was trying to put handcuffs on the student and had instructed the student to get on the ground 52 times. In the process the student somehow took position of the cop’s baton and was about to strike him. The cop shot him 5 times. A witness said right before they heard shots fired they heard the student say, “so you’re going to shoot me now”?? Maybe it’s just me but that sounds like there’s a skunk somewhere in this woodpile. However, you are right, in general I don’t trust cops but I do believe they have a right to go home healthy at the end of their day. Your comparing me to Jesse shakedown Jackson and Big mouth Al Sharpton, come on, really?
He took the cops baton , hit the cop, and then the cop got it back? Makes zero sense. If the average guy hits someone more than twice with a baton he’s edging fairly near to a murder charge.
Just a guess based upon the oddness of the back and forth baton that failed somehow to at least put the cop out of action, but I’d say that the cop is one of those ‘authoritah’ types and the baton is his primary option to menace anyone he happens to think needs to show more respect.
And like a lot of chickenshit cowards the cop isn’t anywhere near tough enough to keep the baton away from anyone who tries to take it, rather, he is expecting his badge to do that for him and in this case it didn’t.
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Yes. These confrontations happen much more quickly than many may imagine. Someone under attack hasn't minutes, or even seconds, to formulate a response.
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Agreed. I do wish that we had video of this event, but I am hopeful that there is enough evidence to either exonerate or convict this officer.
Just last month a student at Liberty U., also a Christian college, was shot to death by a police officer or campus cop. Very strange.
Is this witness credible, or just another drunk or high college student who has a chip on their shoulder about cops? It seems to me the witness' credibility needs to be established before we decide if his or her story is worth a wooden nickel.
"The cop said he was trying to put handcuffs on the student and had instructed the student to get on the ground 52 times. In the process the student somehow took position of the cops baton and was about to strike him. The cop shot him 5 times."
Actually, according to the story, the cop said the student did beat him with his own baton. I wasn't there, though, so I'll wait until the results of the investigation to be released before I decide what I believe.
Despite the cop's dash cam being off/inoperable, police officers do carry voice recorders, the audio from which should be used to corroborate/disprove the officer's story. However, we're not going to hear it any time soon, because no police agency in the nation comments on ongoing investigations. So again, we're all going to have to chill out and wait for the facts to be made available.
"Your comparing me to Jesse shakedown Jackson and Big mouth Al Sharpton, come on, really?"
No, I'm not comparing you to them, just your argument. It's highly speculative, biased, and overly emotional. You do know which case I'm referring to, don't you?
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you appear to ... hate cops..
Well I guess you got me figured out. Police State Ho!! Oh, BTW, Merry Christmas to you.
Likewise...God bless you and yours.
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