People who knew 23-year-old Robert Cameron Redus called him “the gentlest person,” but campus police at theUniversity of the Incarnate Word in Texas say the student struck a campus cop with his own baton before the officer shot him dead.
According to
CNN, Cpl.
Christopher Carter, a police officer with the
Alamo Heights Christian college, saw Redus “driving erratically at a high rate of speed” last Friday.
“Carter was obligated to pull the suspect over to ensure the public’s safety,” a university statement said.
Redus pulled into an apartment complex. Carter followed but reported the wrong street location to police dispatchers, causing a significant delay in response time from back-up.
“During the wait for assistance, the officer tried to restrain the suspect who repeatedly resisted,” the statement said.
“During the struggle, the officer attempted to subdue the suspect with his baton. … The baton was taken by the suspect who used it to hit the officer.
“The officer drew his firearm and was able to knock the baton from the suspect who continued to resist arrest. Shots were fired.”
Campus police vehicles are equipped with dashboard cameras, but Carter’s camera fell off the day after the incident due to a temperature change that prevented the glue from working, CNN reports.
Carter, who has “an extensive law enforcement background,” has been placed on administrative leave, standard procedure for incidents of this nature.
Cameron’s friends insist he wasn’t the type to attack a police officer.
Friend Annie Jones described Redus, the co-valedictorian of a Christian high school in his home of Baytown, Texas, as “the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person” to CNN affiliate WOAI-TV.
22-year-old Mohammad Haidarasl, a resident of Redus’ apartment complex, told the San Antonio Express-News that Redus lived one floor above him.
Haidarasl said that he was lying on his couch at 2 am when he heard a voice from outside he believes to be the officer saying “stop resisting, stop resisting.”
He then heard the cop say “I’m going to shoot.”
A male voice, Haidarasl said, then replied “Oh, you’re gonna shoot me?” in a sarcastic tone.
Shots were heard less than a minute later.
University President Lou Agnese said in a statement released to WOAI, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the student and officer involved in this incident.”
The university released a statement saying it, too, “is deeply upset over the loss of life regardless of the circumstances.”
This was the first shooting in the college’s history.
Carter said Redus refused to be handcuffed and then grabbed the officer’s baton, charged at him and struck him with it.
“He warned Robert Redus four times, ‘Stop or I’ll shoot,’’’ Alamo Heights ChiefRichard Pruitt told TODAY.
Officer Carter stated that Robert Redus then charged at him with his arm raised as if to strike him, and that’s when he fired his weapon six times, striking Robert Redus five times.”
Police said Carter told Redus to put his hands behind his back 14 times and told him 56 times to stop resisting, citing evidence from the microphone on the dis-jointed camera on Carter’s dashboard.
Redus’ family, however, does not believe the officers’ report.
“To think that he would have attacked someone just is beyond anything that I can fathom,’’ Robert’s brother, Kris Redus, told TODAY. “That’s just not consistent with the Cameron that we knew.”
The family released a statement Tuesday night.
“Our family does not believe the officer’s report,’’ the statement read. “We expect all official reports to confirm that Cameron’s death was unnecessary and unjustified.”
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