Police shoot wheelchair bound man suspected of shoplifting 9 times in the back

A US police officer has been fired after fatally shooting a man in a motorised wheelchair while responding to a reported shoplifting.
Tucson police officer Ryan Remington fired nine shots at 61-year-old Richard Lee Richards during the incident.
The Arizona city's police chief said on Tuesday that he's "deeply disturbed and troubled" by the officer's actions during the incident.
Mr Remington's attorney has defended his client's actions.
On Tuesday, police in Tucson released footage of the Monday incident, which began after Mr Richards was accused of stealing a toolbox from a local Walmart.
Both a Walmart employee who confronted him and Mr Remington reported that Mr Richards had brandished a knife during the incident, refused to comply with orders to surrender the weapon, and attempted to move away.
According to the Walmart employee, Mr Richards said that "if you want me to put down the knife, you're going to have to shoot me".
The footage - drawn from CCTV cameras and police bodycams, including one on Mr Remington - shows Mr Remington and another officer following Mr Richards to the entrance of another nearby store, with one officer instructing him to "not go into the store".
Mr Remington then fires nine shots from his gun at Mr Richards, who slumps forward and falls from his wheelchair. He was then handcuffed. He was later declared dead.
"His [Mr Remington's] deadly use of force in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use of force and training," Tucson police chief Chris Magnus said on Tuesday.
"As a result, the department moved earlier today to terminate Officer Remington," he added.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement that Mr Remington's actions were "unconscionable and indefensible".
The incident is now being reviewed by the Pima County Attorney's Office.
Michael Storie, an attorney representing Mr Remington, told the BBC in an interview that the department's overview of the case is "only half the story" and that "many more important details were withheld" from the department's news conference.
"Officers always have alternative actions that can be second guessed," Mr Storie said. "However, just because there are multiple actions, doesn't mean the one he chose was inappropriate."
An additional statement on behalf of Mr Remington is expected later Wednesday.

--

(CNN)Tucson police on Tuesday moved to terminate an officer after he fatally shot a man in a motorized wheelchair who was accused of shoplifting and pulling a knife when confronted outside a Walmart, officials said.
Video released by the Tucson Police Department showed Officer Ryan Remington several steps behind the man in the wheelchair, identified by police as 61-year-old Richard Lee Richards. The officer asked Richards to stop before firing nine rounds -- striking him in the back and side -- as the man headed into another store, according to police.
An attorney for Remington said the video released by police did not offer a complete picture of events leading to Monday's shooting.
Richards had been accused of stealing a toolbox from Walmart when an employee contacted an off-duty Tucson police officer who was working a special duty assignment at the store, according to a statement from Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus.
Remington, an officer for four years in Tucson, joined the Walmart employee in the parking lot and followed Richards while "attempting to gain his cooperation," the police chief said in a statement.
"According to the employee, he caught up with Mr. Richards outside as he fled the store and asked to see a receipt for the toolbox. Instead of providing the receipt, Mr. Richards brandished a knife and said, 'Here's your receipt.'"
Magnus said that Remington wanted Richards to stop and to surrender his knife.
"Mr. Richards refused to comply, and instead continued to head through the Walmart and Lowe's parking lots," Magnus said.
"I have a male suspect that just shoplifted, left in front of me, he pulled a knife on me," Remington radioed in.
"According to the Walmart employee, Mr. Richards said, 'If you want me to put down the knife, you're going to have to shoot me.'"
A second officer arrived on the scene to assist Remington.
Both officers were a short distance behind Richards when they warned him not to enter the store, the chief said.
The video shows Richards beginning to enter the Lowe's when Remington tells him, "Do not go into the store, sir." Seconds later, the officer begins shooting Richards, who slumps over and falls out of his chair and onto the ground.
Remington fired nine rounds, according to Magnus.
"His use of deadly force in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use of force training," Magnus said. "As a result, the department moved earlier today to terminate Officer Remington."
CNN has reached out to Remington but did not hear back.

First article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59439798

Second article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/01/us/arizona-wheelchair-officer-shooting/index.html
 
Agreed but the knee-jerk "HE WUZ IN A WHEELCHAIR, DOE" reaction this story is getting is straight up retarded when again it doesn't mean he can't be a serious threat.
...dude, it's a cripple. Legit a small stick or a gay limp wristed slap could own this guy. Even if he had a knife, you could just tip this retard over with ease.

If cops are too scared to handle vaguely armed cripples without shooting, they are cowards.
 
...dude, it's a cripple. Legit a small stick or a gay limp wristed slap could own this guy. Even if he had a knife, you could just tip this retard over with ease.

If cops are too scared to handle vaguely armed cripples without shooting, they are cowards.
The problem I find is that, inside government institutions at least, the "common sense" approach that everyone would agree with has been derailed by flow charts and threat matrices about "proper" response that turn clear cut situations into shakes of the Magic 8 Ball because the cop is too worried about how the perpetually offended will drag them over the coals if they deviate just ONCE from already not-100%-clear ROEs..... You could've easily just walked over and jammed a stick in his chair and said "when you drop the knife I'll un stick you" but that would be against some kind of use-of-force policy put in place when some other handicapped shoplifter cried too much about how he was "humiliated" by such, even though it prevented him from scooting off with stolen merchandise and nobody got hurt.

Trying to defend the sanctity of feelings over all has been a disaster for cities and the public at large.


That said, this cop was an idiot.... though, you expected something less than excessive lethal force from a guy named "Remington"?
 
Imagine being so trigger happy that you shoot an old dude in a wheelchair not once, but nine times. Over a fucking Walmart toolbox. Worse, after shooting him nine fucking times, you handcuff his dead body on the ground. What an idiot.
 
Last edited:
...dude, it's a cripple. Legit a small stick or a gay limp wristed slap could own this guy. Even if he had a knife, you could just tip this retard over with ease.

If cops are too scared to handle vaguely armed cripples without shooting, they are cowards.
Again, they don't know this man.
They don't know if he's actually crippled.
Lots of people who aren't paralyzed from the waist down
use wheelchairs and it takes seconds to jump up and
sprint at someone with a knife.
This is not unheard of, so morally grandstanding over
how much of a non-threat the guy was is retarded.
 
Again, they don't know this man.
They don't know if he's actually crippled.
Lots of people who aren't paralyzed from the waist down
use wheelchairs and it takes seconds to jump up and
sprint at someone with a knife.
This is not unheard of, so morally grandstanding over
how much of a non-threat the guy was is retarded.
Nigga, you for real? I'll be a cop and show you how to suplex a crippled. I don't even care if that nigga has a knife, I would seriously WWF elbow slam that nigga and use him like a puppet with his dangly legs being hoving as I went full fisto mode. If you are a cop and scared of an old white dude in a wheelchair who isn't armed and is back turned to you, I dunno what to say except that chances are you are gay and mentally retarded.
The problem I find is that, inside government institutions at least, the "common sense" approach that everyone would agree with has been derailed by flow charts and threat matrices about "proper" response that turn clear cut situations into shakes of the Magic 8 Ball because the cop is too worried about how the perpetually offended will drag them over the coals if they deviate just ONCE from already not-100%-clear ROEs..... You could've easily just walked over and jammed a stick in his chair and said "when you drop the knife I'll un stick you" but that would be against some kind of use-of-force policy put in place when some other handicapped shoplifter cried too much about how he was "humiliated" by such, even though it prevented him from scooting off with stolen merchandise and nobody got hurt.

Honestly, I would rather be known as the guy who shoved his hand into an entire cripple's ass and did some sweet WWF moves on him over the guy who just shoots him with a gun. I think... that basic logic dictates one will make you more of a social pariah is a far more liability life-ending risk vs. the other.
 
He was on a medically provided wheelchair specifically for crippled people
he wasn't on a store provided one
And they knew that how?
You could literally go out and buy and use a wheelchair right now.
There isn't some law that says you can only use one if you're too crippled to get up and stab people.
Nigga, you for real? I'll be a cop and show you how to suplex a crippled. I don't even care if that nigga has a knife, I would seriously WWF elbow slam that nigga and use him like a puppet with his dangly legs being hoving as I went full fisto mode. If you are a cop and scared of an old white dude in a wheelchair who isn't armed and is back turned to you, I dunno what to say except that chances are you are gay and mentally retarded.
I find you boomer WWE larpers painfully unfunny.
Also you mention the knife he had and was threatening people with and in the very next sentence say the cops shouldn't have been afraid of him because he was unarmed.
??????????????????????????????????????
 
And they knew that how?
You could literally go out and buy and use a wheelchair right now.
There isn't some law that says you can only use one if you're too crippled to get up and stab people.

I find you boomer WWE larpers painfully unfunny.
Also you mention the knife he had and was threatening people with and in the very next sentence say the cops shouldn't have been afraid of him because he was unarmed.
??????????????????????????????????????
you can see the fucking wheelchair in the video
It's a medical wheelchair specifically for disabled people
 
And they knew that how?
You could literally go out and buy and use a wheelchair right now.
There isn't some law that says you can only use one if you're too crippled to get up and stab people.

I find you boomer WWE larpers painfully unfunny.
Also you mention the knife he had and was threatening people with and in the very next sentence say the cops shouldn't have been afraid of him because he was unarmed.
??????????????????????????????????????
It's not a LARP. I'm a legit muscle fuck tornado and will naked choke slam any cripple ass.
 
you can see the fucking wheelchair in the video
It's a medical wheelchair specifically for disabled people
There is no law preventing you or anyone else from buying and using one.
Pretty bold of you to assume everybody who uses a wheelchair like
that is so profoundly crippled that they can't quickly get up and stab someone with
the knife they're using to threaten people.
 
I find you boomer WWE larpers painfully unfunny.
Also you mention the knife he had and was threatening people with and in the very next sentence say the cops shouldn't have been afraid of him because he was unarmed.
??????????????????????????????????????


You can't be serious. If someone has a knife, he is certainly not a legit threat to someone with a fucking gun. Especially if he is in a wheelchair and going in the OPPOSITE direction.

I understand that some people have adopted a mentality of "cops can do no wrong because woke people are against them", but it's definitely just as retarded as being one of those woke people yourself.
 
There is no law preventing you or anyone else from buying and using one.
Pretty bold of you to assume everybody who uses a wheelchair like
that is so profoundly crippled that they can't get up and stab someone with
the knife they're using to threaten people.
Man, you really are scared of the most non-threatening people of all time. I hope you are not an LEO or any position of authority because I'm pretty sure you would mag dump a small 5-year-old holding a yoyo claiming that Aztec warriors used them back in the day or something insanely dumb like that.
 
Cops fuck up a lot and it looks like that's what happened here,
but the 21-foot rule is a real thing and being in a wheelchair
doesn't make someone less of a threat in that regard.
Cops don't know why he's in a wheelchair,
it isn't implausable that the guy isn't completely disabled
from the waist down and could leap from his chair
to stab the people.
Ok but he got shot in the back which means this person in a wheelchair would have to be faking a disability, then turn around blind and charge.

That's a bit of a stretch
 
...dude, it's a cripple. Legit a small stick or a gay limp wristed slap could own this guy. Even if he had a knife, you could just tip this retard over with ease.

If cops are too scared to handle vaguely armed cripples without shooting, they are cowards.
i'm just picturing a guy with a knife in one hand, wheeling in a circle with his other hand
just fucking push him down some stairs or something jesus christ

if he had a gun, i can see opening fire
but oh no, he's rolling away, with a short meelee weapon
damn, just grab his chair and throw it to the side
 
Imagine being so trigger happy that you shoot an old dude in a wheelchair not once, but nine times. Over a fucking Walmart toolbox. Worse, after shooting him nine fucking times, you handcuff his dead body on the ground. What a fucking idiot.
I'm surprised after all that he wouldn't finish with a steak to the heart and decapitation just to make sure he wasn't a vampire as well.
 
You can't be serious. If someone has a knife, he is certainly not a legit threat to someone with a fucking gun. Especially if he is in a wheelchair and going in the OPPOSITE direction.
I never said the cop was justified in this specific situation but yes,
someone armed with a knife can absolutely be a serious threat to someone with a gun.
I mention this in my very first post in this thread.
21 foot rule. A knife is not a toy. It only takes seconds to ventilate your organs.
Man, you really are scared of the most non-threatening people of all time. I hope you are not an LEO or any position of authority because I'm pretty sure you would mag dump a small 5-year-old holding a yoyo claiming that Aztec warriors used them back in the day or something insanely dumb like that.
If you honestly think cops don't deal with people who are manipulative enough
to use a wheelchair to get them/regular people to lower their guard you obviously don't know shit about law enforcement either.
I hope you never consider a career as LEO or similar because with your logic of threat assessment you'd probably get stabbed/shot to death your first day on the job.
Ok but he got shot in the back which means this person in a wheelchair would have to be faking a disability, then turn around blind and charge.
That's a bit of a stretch
Read above, I never said this cop was justified, I said being in a wheelchair doesn't mean you're as harmless as a puppydog, especially when the guy's been brandishing and threatening workers with a knife
 
Again, they don't know this man.
They don't know if he's actually crippled.
Lots of people who aren't paralyzed from the waist down
use wheelchairs and it takes seconds to jump up and
sprint at someone with a knife.
This is not unheard of, so morally grandstanding over
how much of a non-threat the guy was is retarded.
He had his back to the cops. He was rolling away from them. He only left the wheelchair when he was dead and his body fell to the floor.

He was no threat, stop it.
 
Back