Dash cam video has been released that shows the moments after a police involved shooting in April 2014. The officer involved is seen walking to a police vehicle with another officer, and that’s when the toll of the incident and emotions take over. The officer collapses next to the vehicle and begins to break down.
It’s admittedly difficult to watch, and it shows the human side of a police-involved shooting. We’re all human and we all feel emotion, and this officer just wanted to get back home to his family at the end of his shift. In a split second while out on a call, things changed in an instant.
Officer Grant Morrison was cleared in the shooting death of Richard Ramirez, 38, just a few days ago.
The five-year police veteran said he became convinced the man had a gun after Ramirez reached for his waistband during their 30-second encounter, which occurred last April in a high-crime area of Montana’s largest city.
Police video showed that Morrison repeatedly ordered Ramirez and other occupants of the vehicle to raise their hands. Ramirez’s actions were largely obscured in the video, but Morrison said Ramirez dropped his left hand to his side – out of the officer’s view – and “started to jiggle it up and down”.
“I knew in that moment, which later was determined to be untrue, but I knew in that moment that he was reaching for a gun,” Morrison said. “I couldn’t take that risk … I wanted to see my son grow up.”
The family of Ramirez wanted criminal charges pressed against Morrison and said that he was a victim of racial profiling. They said they still intend to file a lawsuit in the case.
