A dash-cam video shows a police officer firing upon an elderly man during a routine traffic stop.
The officer pulled over Bobby Canipe, 70, for a routine traffic stop on February 25th. The video and the news story had not been subject of headline news until the video was made public earlier last week.
During the stop, Canipe stepped out of his vehicle to retrieve his cane. The officer was taken by surprise and mistook the cane for a shotgun and after yelling at the old man, he opened fire, shooting him the stomach.
The deputy, Terrance Knox, can be heard over the dash cam and his radio calling for back up and running to aid Canipe, who was slumped against truck.
Once the deputy realized the cane, he called for an ambulance and began to sob apologizing.
Canipe told the distraught deputy he would be all right. His female passenger, meanwhile, can be heard praying for his life.
“I’m disabled and I was trying to get my cane out,” he says on the video.
On Wednesday, Bruce Bryant defended his deputy at the news conference, saying he couldn’t have known the long, slender object Canipe pulled from the truck wasn’t a weapon.
He also mentioned that the he would have acted the same way since Canipe didn’t respond to Knox’s shouts. He also mentions that a driver should never step out their vehicle unless he or she is told so by the officer, Canipe did not follow this rule.
Knox has been placed on temporary leave until the case has been closed.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/03/14/mxp-sot-deputy-shoots-elderly-mane-reaching-for-cane.cnn.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/deputy-weeps-shooting-70-year-old-traffic-stop-thought-cane-gun-video-article-1.1721404