2 backup officers at DuBose shooting scene won’t be charged
The two University of Cincinnati police officers who arrived on the scene shortly after a white colleague fatally shot an unarmed black driver in the head will not be charged with lying about what they saw, a prosecutor announced Friday.
A grand jury indicted Officer Ray Tensing on suspicion of murder and voluntary manslaughter this week for the fatal July 19 shooting of Samuel DuBose, whom Officer Tensing had stopped for a missing license plate.
After the shooting, Officer Tensing claimed that he shot Mr. DuBose because he was being dragged by the motorist’s car. But the officer’s body camera footage appeared to contradict that claim.
On Thursday, Officer Tensing pleaded not guilty at an arraignment, and a judge set a bond of $1 million. He was reportedly freed by evening after posting 10 percent of that amount
On Friday, a grand jury declined to charge Officers David Lindenschmidt and Phillip Kidd — who were at the scene as backup — with lying about what happened. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters, who has criticized Officer Tensing’s handling of the stop, said there was “confusion” in an initial incident report which implied that the other two officers saw Officer Tensing being dragged.
“That was not a sworn statement by the officers and merely a short summary of information,” Mr. Deters said of the initial report. “When the officers were specifically asked about what they saw and heard, their statements matched Officer Tensing’s body camera video. These officers have been truthful and honest about what happened, and no charges are warranted.”
He said that in official interviews that Officers Kidd and Lindenschmidt gave to Cincinnati police, neither man said they had witnessed Officer Tensing being dragged. Both officers also testified before the grand jury.
Video from the body cameras of Officers Lindenschmidt and Kidd as well as a written police report illustrated the confusion and tensions in the seconds after Mr. DuBose was shot. The videos show them running toward Mr. DuBose’s vehicle, which had rolled to a stop after he was shot, its engine grinding. The officers, along with Officer Tensing, warily approached the Honda.
“I thought he was gonna run me over,” Officer Tensing said to them, in an exchange captured by Officer Lindenschmidt’s camera. At one point, Officer Lindenschmidt asked if Mr. DuBose had pulled a weapon. “He pulled?” he asked Officer Tensing.
“He didn’t reach for anything,” Officer Tensing replied. “I just got tangled in the car. I thought he was gonna run me over.”
As sirens from more police screamed in the background, Officer Lindenschmidt encountered another officer, who asked what had happened. He repeated what Officer Tensing had told him, but added, “‘[Be]cause the guy reached for something, he thought, so he grabbed onto the car.”