Fearing for his life over a video camera, an Ohio sheriffs deputy shot a photojournalist Monday night who was setting up his camera on a tripod.
New Carlisle News photographer Andy Grimm was struck on the side and was rushed to the hospital where he is expected to survive.
Clark County sheriff’s deputy Jake Shaw apparently confused the camera for a gun.
Grimm, who says he knows Shaw through his job, said he had pulled into a parking lot to photograph the deputy making a traffic stop.
According to the New Carlisle News:
He had his camera and tripod in his hands and Deputy Jake Shaw apparently mistook it for a weapon and fired, striking Andy in the side.
He was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital for surgery. He is expected to recover from his wounds.
“I was going out to take pictures and I saw the traffic stop and I thought, ‘hey, cool. I’ll get some pictures here.'” He said he pulled into Studebaker’s parking lot in full view of the deputy, got out of his Jeep in full view of the deputy and started setting up his tripod and camera. “I turned around toward the cars and then ‘pop, pop,'”
Andy said the deputy gave him no warning. “I was just doing my job,” he said.
“I know Jake. I like Jake. I don’t want him to lose his job over this.”
Grimm told Fox 45 that if only he had “said something” to the deputy beforehand, he may have not been shot.
“I was on my way to identify myself to the deputy so he didn’t think that I was sneaking up on him. I am not mad at the deputy. I just wish I would have said something before he pulled the trigger.”
Grimm’s father, Dale Grimm, owns the newspaper that serves the community of just over 5,000 people.
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