Tennessee Sheriff Said ?I Love This Shit? After Ordering Deputies To Shoot Suspect: Video
The wife of a deceased motorist is suing a Tennessee sheriff for excessive force after newly surfaced body camera footage caught him telling officers that he would rather they shoot a suspect than risk damage to patrol cars.
In the video obtained by News Channel 5 and released Tuesday, White County Sheriff Oddie Shoupe appeared unfazed and even jubilant about the death of Michael Dial, who law enforcement fatally shot as he was trying to outrun police on April 13, 2017.
?I said don?t ram him ― shoot him,? Shoupe is heard telling officers in the video. ?Fuck that shit. Ain?t gonna tear my cars up.?
Local police say they stopped Dial in a Dekalb County parking lot earlier that day while investigating a reported shoplifting incident, according to county officials. The officers discovered that Dial had a suspended license and told him he could not drive. Police later observed him driving on a state highway that same day. After they attempted to pull him over and he fled, police began pursuing him. According to the lawsuit, he was driving about 50 mph, and footage of the pursuit shows the speed limit was 55 mph.
Smithville police officers, as well as deputies from DeKalb County and White County, initially attempted to stop Dial?s pickup truck and attached trailer by ramming into it with their cars. But Shoupe can be heard instructing his deputies to stop hitting the vehicle and start using ?deadly force,? according to dashboard camera video from one of the patrol cars.
White County Deputy Adam West proceeded to open fire on Dial?s truck from his vehicle and again as Dial?s truck drove into an embankment on the side of the highway. Sparta police officer Charlie Sims stopped his patrol car as he witnessed Dial?s truck crashing and fired several shots at the vehicle.
Shoupe: I told him, I said, ?Take him out.?
Officer: I heard.
Shoupe: Damn, I don?t give a shit.
Officer: It wasn?t long after that I heard ?Shot fired. Shots fired.?
Shoupe: They said we?re ramming him. I said don?t ram him ― shoot him ... Fuck that shit. Ain?t gonna tear my cars up ... If they don?t think I?ll give the damn order to kill that motherfucker, they?re full of shit.
(laughter)
Shoupe: Take him out. I?m here on the damn wrong end of the damn county ... I love this shit. God, I tell you what, I thrive on it.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...hpm g00000009