The Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio today released body camera footage showing the moment a deputy shot a local news photographer without any warning after mistaking his camera and tripod for a gun.
In the grainy night-time video, Deputy Jake Shaw is sitting in his cruiser waiting for information on a vehicle he pulled over in New Carlisle on Monday night, then opens his cruiser door and fires two shots in the direction of a pickup truck across the street.
The victim of the shooting, New Carlisle News staffer Andy Grimm, can be heard in the recording screaming, ‘you shot me,’ then wailing and whimpering in pain, and repeatedly begging the deputy, whom he knew by name, to call his wife.
‘Pop, pop’: This is the moment Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Jake Shaw opened fire without a warning on an Ohio news photographer after mistaking his equipment for a weapon
In this bodycam footage released by police, Andy Grimm can be heard screaming in pain after getting struck by a bullet while standing outside his parked Jeep (pictured)
Deputy Shaw tells Grimm, whom he knew, in the video that he thought the photographer was pulling out a gun. He has since been placed on leave
Shaw realizes his mistake immediately as he rushes to Grimm’s aid. He calls in the shooting on his radio and summons a medic.
‘Andy, I’m sorry, brother,’ Shaw tells Grimm, whom he knew. ‘Listen, dude, you pulled that out like a gun out of the back of the Jeep.’
‘I thought it was a freaking gun, dude,’ Shaw says a minute later.
Shaw continuously reassures Grimm he is going to be OK, tells him, ‘I love you, Andy… I’m sorry, brother.’
Grimm is heard trying to explain that he waved at Shaw and flashed his car lights, but he also takes the blame for what happened and tries to protect Shaw.
‘It’s my fault,’ he says in the video. ‘I’m on body camera, I’ll say it right now. I thought you saw me wave. I flashed my lights. You weren’t looking. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.’
Grimm later tells the deputy, ‘I don’t want you to lose your job for this.’
As Shaw reports over the radio that he fired two shots, Grimm says with a laugh: ‘Thank God you missed one.’
Cameraman shot: Andy Grimm, a news photographer from New Carlisle, Ohio, shows where one bullet struck him in the torso (left) and where another grazed his shoulder (right)
Lucky: Shaw explained that the bullet entered beneath a rib on his left side and exited cleanly without damaging any organs
Later, Shaw is heard crying and praying that Grimm will be all right.
‘I thought it was a f***ing gun, man,’ he tells himself.
Grimm is now out of the hospital and recovering. His father said Wednesday is son slept well overnight but is very sore.
Speaking exclusively to Fox 45 Now, Shaw explained that he was ‘lucky’ in that the bullet entered beneath a rib on his left side and exited cleanly without damaging any organs.
‘I feel like my mother was watching over me, somebody was looking out for me that day,’ he said while showing his bandaged up torso.
The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that it had placed Shaw on administrative leave and that he will attend a ‘critical incident debriefing.’
‘Our hearts and prayers are with Mr. Grimm as he recovers and with Deputy Jake Shaw and we ask the community to keep both of them in your hearts and prayers as well,’ Maj. Andy Reynolds of the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The 25-year-old Shaw joined the department in 2012 and became a full-time deputy in 2015, according to his personnel file. He worked in the jail before going on the road.
Shaw has average or above average performance comments in his file, but he was reprimanded last year for failing to electronically record his hourly checks on inmates.
Grimm went out Monday night to shoot lightning when when came upon a traffic stop on Main Streetin New Carlisle, Ohio, and decided to take pictures of it
Grimm says a sheriff’s deputy opened fire on him without any warning, having apparently mistaken his camera and tripod for a weapon
The case has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. At the request of the Clark County prosecutor’s office, prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office will handle the case.
It’s not uncommon for local prosecutors to make such a request, especially in communities where prosecutors and sheriff’s office authorities work closely together.
The New Carlisle News reported Tuesday that Grimm had left the office at around 10pm Monday to take pictures of a lightning storm when he came across Deputy Shaw performing a traffic stop in New Carlisle, north of Dayton.
Grimm tells the news organization that he decided to take pictures of the traffic stop on Main Street, noting that he was not the one being pulled over.
Grimm, who works for New Carlisle News, was shot in the chest but is expected to recover
He says he got out of his Jeep and started setting up his tripod and camera in full view of the deputy performing the traffic stop when he heard, ‘pop, pop,’ and then realized he’s been shot in the side.
Grimm was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He is expected to recover.
The wounded photographer later said Deputy Jake Shaw gave him no warning before opening fire on him.
‘I was just doing my job,’ he said.
Grimm, however, added that he knows and likes the deputy who shot him, and he does not want him to lose his job over this incident, reported WDTN.
Speaking to the New York Daily News from his hospital bed, the wounded cameraman said one bullet struck him in the chest and another may have grazed his shoulder.
Afterwards, Grimm said the deputy rushed over to his aid and kept repeating, ‘I thought it was a gun.’
The newspaper, whose publisher is Andy Grimm’s father, Dale, offered an update on the photographer’s condition on its Facebook page overnight, saying that Grimm is very sore but is otherwise ‘doing fine.’ He is expected to be released home sometime Tuesday.
A friend has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Grimm with his medical expenses while he recovers from his wounds.