A South Carolina deputy wept with remorse after mistakenly shooting a 70-year-old man during a traffic stop because he thought the man’s cane was a shotgun, a grim new video shows.
York County Deputy Terrance Knox fired several shots at elderly motorist Bobby Canipe during a traffic stop on Feb. 25 after the old-timer got out of his truck to retrieve his cane from the flatbed.
In video released by York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant Wednesday, Knox yells “sir” and then “hey” several times before opening fire.
Canipe was hit once and is expected to recover.
He was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after the shooting and has since been released.
In the video, Knox can be heard sobbing to another officer who arrived a few minutes after the shooting.
“He pulled the cane out, it looked like as shotgun, man,” the three-year vet says through tears.
As the other cop consoles him, Knox sobs, “I promise to God it looked like a shotgun.”
Bryant defended his deputy at the news conference Wednesday, saying he couldn’t have known the long, slender object Canipe pulled from the truck wasn’t a weapon.
“I would have had to take the same action he did,” Bryant told reporters.
“You can’t wait to see a muzzle flash before you take action because when you see the muzzle flash, it’s too late,” he said.
The shooting happened at around 7:30 p.m. on North Main Street in Clover, S.C.
Knox pulled Canipe’s truck over because his license plates were expired.
Canipe had been watching the Daytona 500 race in Florida and was driving with a female friend back to his home in Lincolnton, a small city north of Charlotte.
As he sat slumped against the truck after being shot, Canipe told the distraught deputy he would be all right. His female friend, meanwhile, can be heard praying for his life.
“I’m disabled and I was trying to get my cane out,” he says on the video.
The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting, and Knox was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome.
With News Wire Services
