Richmond IN July 6 2013 A Richmond man claims a police officer who responded to an accident involving a young deer handed the officer’s loaded gun to a civilian to euthanize the badly injured animal.
Richmond police said this week an investigation is ongoing into the reported incident, which Jerry Anderson said took place Saturday in front of his home in the 1500 block of Chester Boulevard. A report from RPD indicates an officer did respond to an accident involving a deer just before 10 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Chester Boulevard.
Anderson said the officer arrived at the scene after a young woman had struck the deer in an accident on Chester Boulevard. Anderson said the deer was injured badly, was suffering and needed to be shot. He said a small group of people had gathered at the scene.
Anderson said he had gone inside his home to retrieve his pistol to shoot the deer and was surprised to find someone else in the act of shooting the animal.
“I went inside to get my gun, and when I came out, my wife told me that (the officer) said he couldn’t do it,” Anderson said. “She said he had tears in his eyes, and he handed his gun to a stranger — his loaded gun.
“There were 10 to 12 people standing around, and there were two big guys there. One of them said they had a permit in Ohio, but they didn’t have it with them, and (the officer) gave his weapon to (the man) to shoot the deer. You should never hand your weapon to a person in a crowd.”
Anderson said he contacted police about the incident and met Tuesday with RPD Capt. Terry Hopkins.
“I don’t have a problem with the shooting — the fawn was hurt pretty badly and it needed to be done, that’s why I went inside to get my gun,” Anderson said. “I just couldn’t believe that an officer who is supposed to protect people was crying and couldn’t do it and then he handed his loaded gun to a stranger to shoot the deer in front of a crowd of people. (The officer) didn’t disperse the crowd first or anything.”
RPD Chief Kris Wolski said this week Hopkins was investigating the case. Wolski confirmed a deer was struck and later killed during the incident Saturday, but he did not provide any additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
RPD Maj. Kevin Wampler this week said if the allegations are determined to be true, the officer would face disciplinary action for violating department policy. He said the alleged act is not a criminal violation.
Source- IndyStar
Richmond police said this week an investigation is ongoing into the reported incident, which Jerry Anderson said took place Saturday in front of his home in the 1500 block of Chester Boulevard. A report from RPD indicates an officer did respond to an accident involving a deer just before 10 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Chester Boulevard.
Anderson said the officer arrived at the scene after a young woman had struck the deer in an accident on Chester Boulevard. Anderson said the deer was injured badly, was suffering and needed to be shot. He said a small group of people had gathered at the scene.
Anderson said he had gone inside his home to retrieve his pistol to shoot the deer and was surprised to find someone else in the act of shooting the animal.
“I went inside to get my gun, and when I came out, my wife told me that (the officer) said he couldn’t do it,” Anderson said. “She said he had tears in his eyes, and he handed his gun to a stranger — his loaded gun.
“There were 10 to 12 people standing around, and there were two big guys there. One of them said they had a permit in Ohio, but they didn’t have it with them, and (the officer) gave his weapon to (the man) to shoot the deer. You should never hand your weapon to a person in a crowd.”
Anderson said he contacted police about the incident and met Tuesday with RPD Capt. Terry Hopkins.
“I don’t have a problem with the shooting — the fawn was hurt pretty badly and it needed to be done, that’s why I went inside to get my gun,” Anderson said. “I just couldn’t believe that an officer who is supposed to protect people was crying and couldn’t do it and then he handed his loaded gun to a stranger to shoot the deer in front of a crowd of people. (The officer) didn’t disperse the crowd first or anything.”
RPD Chief Kris Wolski said this week Hopkins was investigating the case. Wolski confirmed a deer was struck and later killed during the incident Saturday, but he did not provide any additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
RPD Maj. Kevin Wampler this week said if the allegations are determined to be true, the officer would face disciplinary action for violating department policy. He said the alleged act is not a criminal violation.
Source- IndyStar