70 year old man shot by cop in SC

[guzzijohn]

 
 
 
  South Carolina officer shoots 70-year-old man reaching for cane   

• By JEFFREY COLLINS
• Associated Press

 

• Published Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, at  5:31 p.m.
• Updated Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, at  5:40 a.m.

 
 

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — A police officer in South Carolina shot a 70-year-old motorist who was reaching for a cane during a traffic stop because he thought the man was grabbing a rifle from the bed of his pickup truck, investigators said. The man was expected to survive.
The York County deputy, Terrence Knox, pulled over Bobby Canipe (kah-NYP') of Lincolnton, N.C., for an expired license tag about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday north of Clover, S.C., York County sheriff's spokesman Trent Faris said.
After stopping, Canipe got out of his pickup truck and reached into the bed, pulling out what Knox thought was a long-barreled rifle, Faris said. It was Canipe's walking cane. The officer fired several times, hitting Canipe once, Faris said.
Faris refused to say where on his body Canipe was hit, but said he was expected to survive. Canipe was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., where spokesman Kevin McCarthy said he was listed in fair condition.
"The situation is very unfortunate," Faris said, reading from a statement at a news conference. "It does appear, at this time, that Deputy Knox's actions were an appropriate response to what he reasonably believed to be an imminent threat to his life."
The State Law Enforcement Division will investigate the shooting and turn its findings over to prosecutors, who will decide whether to press charges, Faris said. He said Knox, 24, has been a deputy for almost three years.




I bet a shooting like this from a CC person or any non-cop would have not been able to get off the hook with this line:
""It does appear, at this time, that Deputy Knox's actions were an appropriate response to what he reasonably believed to be an imminent threat to his life.""
GuzzIJohn


 

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/02/26/3313248/sc-officer-shoots-man-reaching.html#storylink=cpy

[no guns here]

I throw the BS flag on this one too.  In order for him to see a "long barreled rifle" he would have to be looking into the back of the truck.  Other-wise as soon as the cane came up out of the bed, he would have seen it was a cane.  So I guess he walked up to a 70 yo man for a simple traffic stop with his pistol drawn and ready to go.  Several shots?  Ridiculous... I hope he and that department get their butts sued off for this.  Be better if he'd go to jail... but he won't.
 
"I feared for my life"
 
 
NGH

[spruce]

"The situation is very unfortunate" - that's the best they can come up with!???  I'll bet the guy who was shot thinks it's a bit more serious than "unfortunate".
 
The training at the police academies nowadays seems to be turning out gunslingers instead of peace officers.

[SHOOTALL]

 It is very hard to understand this . My first thought is if a person is afraid to the point of shooting an old man with out clearly seeing a danger in the wide open maybe he should seek a different job.

[powderman]

It is very hard to understand this . My first thought is if a person is afraid to the point of shooting an old man with out clearly seeing a danger in the wide open maybe he should seek a different job.

 
Yep, that person has no business with a gun and badge. POWDERMAN. 

[gypsyman]

Sounds to me that the 24 year old has been brain washed. A 70 year old gets out of the truck, grabs a cane and gets shot. Best thing that can happen here is, fire the kid, pay all the medical bills, and hope like hell the city's insurance is paid up. Good lawyer is going to get this guy a bunch of money. gypsyman

[JonnyReb]

Growing up just 20-25 years ago, Police officers weren't scary. Now they are.

[SHOOTALL]

Growing up just 20-25 years ago, Police officers weren't scary. Now they are.

you mean back when they dressed like cops not in battle gear ?

[JonnyReb]

Growing up just 20-25 years ago, Police officers weren't scary. Now they are.

you mean back when they dressed like cops not in battle gear ?

  Yessir exactly. That and they were friendly for the most part, deserved respect and we gave it to them but we never feared them other than for the ticket they might give. We knew them and they knew us, we'd wave as we went by and they'd smile and return it.

  I don't get pulled over very often but did get nailed by a cruiser mounted computer camera a few months ago for a late inspection sticker. The officer didn't approach my truck till backup rolled in and they both flanked me from either side coming in. I was threatened with arrest ( over an inspection sticker) and i KNOW they were just looking to see if they could get me hostile..they woulda taken me down in a heartbeat if i'd have started a verbal altercation. I honestly felt like the (3) young officerswoulda tazed me or worse if i so much as moved to fast. it was a bad experience and i see almost everyday more cases of police becoming something they never were before..i see how a "police state" feels kinda and know we'll see it get worse. Very sad turn of events for this country and its citizens.

[SHOOTALL]

We see a lot of 2-3 police car traffic stops here more so than not. A few weeks ago there was the elderly lady pulled over by two cops in separate cars. One at her window and the other on the other side of her car hand on his gun. The lady looked dressed for tea with friends.
 The other side a Va. State trooper pulled me for an inspection past due by 6 MOS. . It was just him all alone on a lonely stretch of highway. He walks up with a smile on his face and to be honest he was pleasant. He ask if I had any idea why he stopped me . I had no idea. He laughs and said move your had on the dash and check the date on the inspection sticker , OOPS. I said I missed it and don't have an excuse. He said I will check you record and if it is clean he will let me go with a warning. It was and he did . And we spent the next 10 mins talking deer hunting. We both knew each other we figured out while talking.
 So at least there are still some cops out there only doing their job not intimidating people in the process.

[guzzijohn]

In my experiences in Kansas, most LEOs from sheriff departments and state troopers that serve in rural low population areas are generally more reasonable on how they approach and interact although you will run into an occasional "Barney". I think part of that is just being rural and another part may be that they know backup may be far away and so they do not want to do anything to cause things to possibly get out of hand. In Wichita and some of the other larger population areas is where I have run into the much more military mindset and aggressiveness but those LEOs know they have almost instant backup.
GuzziJohn

[Mikey]

It just seems as though some cops today need to make their bones and they dont' care who it is.  Reaching for a long barreled rifle - pure BS.
 
I hope that 70 y/o does not have any sons who don't like cops because the 3 year deputy is liable to see some real trouble then. 

[SHOOTALL]

A few years back a cop followed a guy home and pulled him as he got to his driveway. The cop shot him killing him. Unfortunate for the cop there was a witness who said the cop just shot the guy as he got out of his truck. The cop had a story and got away with it. I don't know the truth but the guy and his brothers were close . They were plumbers and being a plumber I knew of them and had mutual friends. Word is there will be revenge. In reality it may happen or it may not but the cop has to be careful for the rest of his life . Who would want to live like that ? Would he need to check his ride every time before starting the engine ? he couldn't have a routine or pattern to his life .

[Old Fart]

There are a lot of good cops out there. Over the years they have done a pretty good job policing their ranks.
But I don't know if it's the availability of info from the internet or if they have started recruiting crazies.
There certainly seems to be more stories about abuse.
Of course some of them are just internet lore, but a large majority of them are documented cases.
Something worth watching.

[magooch]

First of all, 70 isn't old and secondly, when you're having an incident with a cop, you should be very careful about how you act.  Don't make any sudden movements and don't reach for anything unless you are told to.  I don't mean to excuse the cop at all, but just try to put yourself in his position and out of pure self preservation, don't give the cop any reason to be nervous.

[coyotejoe]

I wouldn't say that reaching for a cane in the back of a pickup constitutes a reason for a cop to be nervous. The man's movements must not have been all that sudden if the cop had time to draw and fire three rounds. And who the hell carries a rifle bouncing around in the bed of a pickup? Why would any cop even think that? Prosecute the cop and sue the department.

[guzzijohn]

I wonder when the last time was that this man was involved in a traffic stop? Back when I first learned to drive in the late 60s I was told if pulled over get out of the vehicle and meet the officer. When I was young and dumb I got stopped a few times and that is what I did, no problem. Then sometime in the late 70s or so it became SOP for you not to get out of the vehicle unless told too. Maybe this guy had not been stopped in many years.
Related, sometime back there was a big discussion on the Guzzi board on what to do when stopped on a motorcycle. Do you stay seated, do you remove your helmet, etc. Seemed to be a wide range of opinions and even quite different procedures posted by a couple of cops. I love the cop line of "he acted nervous" (not in what started this thread but in general) as it seems to give the cop probable cause to search. Hell, yes I am nervous anytime I am pulled over as I no longer have any idea what to expect of the officer.
GuzziJohn

[SHOOTALL]

 Maybe we should only allow cops who can man handle 70 year olds on the police force . No wussy's allowed.

[DDZ]

When we hear things like this we all jump to the conclusion that its a bad cop looking to shoot someone. I'm not saying this cop was justified for shooting this man, don't know we only heard one side of the story, with a title of "Cop shoots 70 year old man getting cane out of pickup truck"
 Stand in the cops shoes for a minute.  For one you would think that by now the guy would know, that when pulled over you don't get out of your vehicle. The cop told him to not get out of his truck. Yet he preceded to get out. Did the cop yell other orders to stop? Don't know but probably. He reaches into the bed of a pickup to grab something.
At this time the cop is probably wondering what this guy is up to, the cop sees him pull something long out of his truck, that I think could possibly be mistaken for a rifle. Was the cane pointed at the cop? We don't know. Was the 70 year old guy angry from being pulled over, and pointed the cane at the cop? We don't know. 
I don't think 70 years old has anything to do with it either, but everyone likes to think that 70 year old guys are harmless. 70 year old guys can kill you with a gun just as easily as a 20 year old, and there are 70 year old guys in this world with ill intent. All I'm saying is don't put the noose around the cops neck until the whole story is learned. Not all cops are looking to gun someone down. Just sayin     

Guns are even made to look just like canes, but why would a 70 year old guy ever have one of these? Right? I'm also betting the cop knows that bullets can come out of things that look like canes.

http://www.borispalatnik.com/CaneGun_BCG.htm

[coyotejoe]

That is really a stretch there DDZ really a s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

[FPH]

I don't understand why you would exit your vehicle with out being asked to.  I roll down my window, turn off my truck and keep my hands on the wheel in plain sight.  I hope there is a dash cam video.

[DDZ]

That is really a stretch there DDZ really a s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

which part is a stretch and which part is really a stretch? Ok the gun canes are probably few and far between. I wasn't saying the guys cane was a gun, just that there is that possibility. 

[coyotejoe]

You are making up a lot of far fetched hypotheticals to try to excuse an obviously trigger happy cop. Gun cane or gun that looks like a cane or cane that looks like a gun?  Ridiculous. There is no way one can mistake a cane for a rifle and the fact that the cop fired his gun is all anyone needs to know that he was trigger happy. Cops today go to shooting schools where it is stressed to them that "your life is on the line every minute out there and you have to be ready to react in a split second". So that is what he did, he reacted in a split second without taking a full second to identify the threat. The  "life on the line" stuff is pure BS it is a fact that law enforcement is one of the safest out-of-office occupations, general construction work is 30-40 times more dangerous. But the shooting schools aren't going to say that because they have to justify their existence. And when they aren't practicing shooting they are watching Hollywood cop crap and imagining it to be real. The fact is that far more law abiding citizens are shot by cops than there are cops shot in the line of duty.

[powderman]

All this boils down to what hunters are taught as pups. ALWAYS identify your target, the officer did NOT do that. POWDERMAN. 

[Hairy Chest]

That is really a stretch there DDZ really a s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

which part is a stretch and which part is really a stretch? Ok the gun canes are probably few and far between. I wasn't saying the guys cane was a gun, just that there is that possibility.

You said it rather well.  We've only heard one side of the story!  Who gets out of the car and reaches for a long object?      Why does everybody always believe something the media tells them when we know the media is always biased against the police?  Almost all of the stories are negative.  I don't know what states you guys come from, but out here in California police look normal.  No military type gear, unless they are SWAT.  I live in a suburban area and have only seen that once in 13 years.  Sometimes I've seen a LASD with a cool tactical rig on his thigh - right on, that's what I would have to do that job in crappola (LA).     It's a war zone.  There are thousands of gang members out here, a lot of people on dope, tinted windows on the front side windows commonly.  I saw a policeman pull over someone with full tinted windows that were rolled up, black vehicle, dark windows.  These windows are common now.  It's a trendy thing to do.  What's on the other side?  Anybody knows.

It's getting out of control.  People do everything.  It's like a Third World.  People are wandering aimlessly.  They're on their smart phones, speeding, skateboarders,  women pushing children in strollers everywhere.  All these people.  I almost ran into a black kid speeding on a skateboard the other night.  He didn't even see me.  He was one foot in front of me looking down at his phone.      Apartment dwellings have loud obnoxious people.  The police are polite, very PC.  A little too PC by my book.  I like to see them cracking down on the liberals, but they don't because the jails are full of them.  We need more jails!  Lock'em up and throw away the keys!  Creepy people everywhere. All kinds of tatoo's, earrings in noses, devil worshipers.  We need more police.  What will happen when there's a crisis?  Cops need to be more aggressive to keep the order.  All this negative stuff about bad police is overrated.  I think people are just repeating the media lie.  Maybe there are a few isolated cases.         

[DDZ]

Well Coyotejoe I think you are wrong about construction jobs being 30-40 times more dangerous than a police officer. I just looked up some numbers and policemen, sheriffs patrol officers have a fatality rate of 21.8 per 100,000 Construction workers come in at 19.5 fatalities per 100,000. Roofers and structural steel workers have a higher fatality rate.
 All I said was put yourself in the cops shoes. Plus none of us know the whole story, all we have is 70 year old guy gets shot by cop getting cane from his truck. Is that enough to pass judgement? Why don't they just hang him now? I'm not claiming the cop is not at fault. I'm just saying there could have been other circumstances that we don't know from a little article written by a news editor. The article does say that this happened in SC at 7:30 pm. I figure its dark in SC at 7:30 pm, cause its now pitch black here in Pa at 6:50 pm. 
Of course the possibility of a different story wouldn't fit the dirty cop presumption that ya all jumped on.

That is right PM when hunting we should always identify our target, but animals have never been known to shoot back. I think it might be a different situation with policemen. Especially when they pull someone over after dark, they don't obey an order to stay in the vehicle, then reach into a bed of a pickup and pull something out that possibly could have been mistaken for a rifle. 

[DDZ]

This story says there was a dash cam. We won't get to watch it but if this goes to court I'm sure the jury will.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2568848/SC-officer-shoots-man-reaching-cane.html