[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
Police in Reno, Nevada say one of their officers accidentally shot a suspect after getting accidentally Tased by a Washoe County sheriff’s deputy. Officers released body cam footage on Sunday.
According to Deputy Chief Tom Robinson, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office asked Reno police for help on July 26 to assist in a traffic stop. Requests like this are “not uncommon,” he said. When police arrived, they found deputies pointing stun guns at a 43-year-old Reno resident who wasn’t complying with commands, according to this account.
Body cam footage–ostensibly from a Washoe County deputy’s point of view–showed that law enforcement official firing his stun gun. He had moved around the suspect and opened fire, but he missed, and struck a Reno police officer in the knee, according to Robinson. That caused the officer to then shoot the suspect in the right shoulder with a firearm, according to this account.
Body cam footage from the police officer’s point of view was obscured by equipment during the actual shooting, cops said. The footage cleared up, however, and authorities began handcuffing the bleeding suspect.
“I got shot with the Taser,” said the officer. “I thought–fuck.”
He was seen applying a tourniquet to the suspect’s right shoulder.
At several points in the video, the Reno police pointed out where the Taser probe and wire still hung on the officer.
“In the coming months, the Reno Police Department office of internal affairs will review all relevant information from this case, and will make a determination as to whether the officer’s tactics, drawing and use of a deadly weapon, and use of force is within the policies and standardized procedures of the Reno Police Department,” RPD Public Information Officer Travis Warren said. “Those findings will be submitted to the chief of police for review.”
He said that the release of the body cam footage was meant to inform the public, and was not intended to draw conclusions as to whether the officers violated policy or the law. The investigation is ongoing. Robinson said that the outside agency looking into the officer-involved shooting (in this case, the Sparks Police Department) will determine if criminal charges are appropriate, and will submit their findings to the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office, who will then make and release a public report.
The suspect, who was not named, received a non-life threatening injury, and was released from the hospital. The SPD cited him for reckless driving, and obstructing or resisting officers.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
[Screengrab from the deputy’s point of view via Washoe County Sheriff’s Office]