When Ohio photographer Anthony Grimm took his tripod out for a session he probably didn’t expect to get assaulted, let alone shot, during the process. Even if he was photographing a traffic stop, Grimm probably thought the officer’s eyesight was either better than it was or his intentions were more clear.
Regardless, after getting shot the deputy realized his error and the whole thing eventually went to court. Grimm, for his part, has every right to be upset but the police department through their counsel unequivocally states that the deputy acted in accordance with the law, calling the deputy’s response “reasonable” and blaming Grimm’s own “negligence” for his injuries.
Grimm decided to take the county to court himself to sue for damages, a natural response to getting shot by the authorities and surviving the ordeal.
The lawyers for Clark County argued: “Defendants aver that it reasonably appeared to Deputy Shaw that Andrew Grimm possessed a firearm under the conditions facing him, in the course and scope of his employment, and in good faith, to make a split-second decision to discharge his weapon in order to protect the public and himself from perceived deadly harm. Plaintiff Andrew Grimm’s own contributory and or comparative negligence and/or assumption of the risk may have caused or contributed to cause the injuries and damages of which he complains.”
Grimm’s account of the story is that he pulled up on the scene of the traffic stop and reached into the back of his Jeep to get his camera to take pictures. The deputy, who Grimm claims to know personally, thought it was a gun and fired shots at his vehicle. Grimm even claims that before the shooting he made his presence known to the deputy by flashing his lights. He also claims that his wife Melanie’s business the New Carlisle News has lost business since the incident.
11 Comments
What happened to: “Put your hands up!” or “Don’t move or I’ll shoot!”
It got replaced with “I’m scared! BLAM BLAM”
You’re assuming there wasn’t any words spoken first…
I reside in Australia where generally speaking the police do not fire a weapon as a first response but I must say that on occasion when carrying my tripod in public in the protective case the thought has crossed my mind that from a distance it could be mistaken as a gun case. In the case you cite it is a blessing the citizen survived the action of the civic authority.
You took the words out of my mouth, Russ (including the “I reside in Australia” bit). I do a lot of night photography so am all the more conscious that I don’t want to be seen pulling a rifle-like object out of my car when I’m parked somewhere with limited lighting.
I pull my tripod out of the car unfolded so that it’s clear. Also, if I am using one of those mini flexi ones, I just bend it into a definitely not a gun like shape. Not been shot yet, even had a conversation with one bobby about star trails!
I guess they don’t sell many of those camera supports, that you mount your camera on a rifle stock.
I never knew you could shoot yourself with a tripod, before this lawyer told the world that. I must be more careful how I handle mine. Oh – and under gun laws we have here (YES – some countries DO have gun laws!), I am required to store them in a safe, now that I am armed (LOL) with that new piece of information.
Reading the comments and original article, this was after dark. Seems silly to not make contact with the officer (whom he says he knew) and let him know that he intended to take pictures of their active investigation. Without any further information, really hard to make a call one way or the other.
But hey, this is the interwebz, let’s go head and armchair quarterback it from both sides with little to no information.
Cops in the US are trigger-happy and often shoot first because they know they can get away with it. There is no way that this case could have gone down the way it did in Canada, at least if there was a suit for damages. Human life means little down there.
Send this shooting cop to jail. Next they will be killing old ladies walking at night while holding an umbrella which they thought was an AK47.
The USA is the only rich nation where cops go around abusing and killing innocent citizens at will then go home free with a full month of holidays. Just like a 3rd world country.
Cops in Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada don’t go around killing citizens or they go straight to jail. Instead they are friendly, respectful and treat citizens like humans instead of animals yet citizens stand like lambs. So glad I don’t live in the USA!!