A Tucson police officer is being fired for shooting and killing a man in a wheelchair who was holding a knife. Officials say the officer violated the department’s policy on the use of deadly force.
Officer Ryan Remington was working a special off-duty assignment at a Walmart when he was approached by an employee who reported that a man in a wheelchair had just stolen a toolbox. The man was later identified as 61-year-old Richard Lee Richards.
When confronted by Remington, Richards pulled out a knife and rolled across the parking lot and towards the garden center of a Lowes. Remington asked the man to surrender the knife, but he refused.
Remington followed the man across the parking lot and fired nine times as Richards entered the Lowes. Richards was struck in the back and side, and he fell out of his chair onto the ground.
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Officers rendered aid, but Richards was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a press conference Tuesday, TPD Chief Chris Magnus said he was “deeply disturbed” by Remington’s action.
“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. As a result, the department moved earlier today to terminate officer Remington,” he said.
Remington and his lawyers with the Tucson Police Officers Association accused the police department of releasing an edited version of the incident.
“What you saw was the police department’s edited version of this event, which was cut and pasted pieces of video of this event,” Mike Storie, Tucson Police Officers Association attorney, told KGUN.
SEE ALSO: WATCH: DC Police Shoots, Kills Suspect Wielding Air-Powered Rifle
Storie also said that Remington thought his use of force was “appropriate at the time he used it and he still does.”
Remington’s firing was effective on December 7, but he’s still facing the possibility of criminal prosecution.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero called his action’s “indefensible” and gave her “full support” to the investigation of the Pima County Attorney’s Office.
“The actions of the officer involved in last night’s deadly shooting are unconscionable and indefensible,” she said. “The County Attorney’s Office has my full support as they proceed with their investigation. It is moments like this that test our resolve to ensure justice and accountability. We owe this to all Tucsonans. I ask our community to remain calm and be patient as investigations ensue.”
I can’t wait to see all the boot licker try to explained this.
Idiot with a badge Could have used pepper spray but casually shots an old man in a WHEELCHAIR!! THIS is why cops are so disrespected these days! THIS is why people want cops to get more training! You don’t shoot a old man in the back for stealing a tool box AssH
The thief got what he deserved! I fully support shooting and killing thieves, shoplifters, and looters because our justice system essentially doesn’t prosecute them, and just lets them off the hook without incarceration or punishment, so they are free to commit more crimes and violent crimes against society.
A bit of a over kill here … no pond intended … just push a stick in his wheels on his wheel chair and the dude isn’t going anywhere . He would of gave up knowing he can’t get away . Easy fix and no shots fired .
Based on what we know from the article, a guy in a wheelchair with a knife isn’t a threat that justifies shooting him in the back. Multiple cops on the scene and no one could catch up to the guy and throw something in front of the wheelchair to slow or stop it from moving forward?
This dude had a record since the 80’s for robbery and assault with weapon. He even got 10 years for attempted murder on a peace officer. Now this. He was facing charges from last year even. How are people like this always released on us citizens, while innocent, or those with marijuana charges are rotting away in a cell for a life sentence. This world is sick.
someone is going to time out for a big boo-boo……..
cowards with guns. did the old man threaten to run over there toes ??? taser him but dont shoot him dumbass.
There were multiple officers (security and/or police) on scene. One officer covers the other while the second officer talks or uses non-lethal force such as a taser or a baton. He could have had a gun…yeah, he could have had an IED….or maybe a mobile phone…you don’t shoot people for what they could have. I’ll wait for the investigation. I’m sorry pal buts it doesn’t look good for you! You will get your day in court.
Well, The fast food employees demanded $15 an hour. The jobs are now paying that and even better, yet the fast food industry is struggling to find employees. It is also becoming harder to attract level headed individuals interested in Police work for not much more than a fast food worker’s wage. Here’s your result.
I do not agree with how the officer handled the situation but I don’t know all the details.
I have always despised thieves though. Crime seems like it’s out of control lately.
One of the cops carefully aimed one last shot to the head of the victim after he was hunched over just to make sure he was dead. Look at the lowes footage and keep in mind that the flashligh at that close range would be slightly beneath the bullet impact zone. The weapon light was shining on his shoulder. there was a pause in the shooting as the officer carefully placed one last shot to the head of the victim.
I disavow.
I Have Been Fully Trained as Police Officer,
Also USAF And Ret. Fire Captain .This video
Shows Complete Failure to use of Proper
Force,And Total Failure of This Officer
Using Common Sense.
He Should Be Charged At The Very Least
With Murder.
All due respect to your training and experience, did you miss ‘legals’ at the academy? Or, were you not paying attention? With all that training, you should know that a short bit of video is no better and no worse than an eye witness account; and it comprises a very small percentage of holistic evidence presented at a trial–with other eye witness accounts, physical circumstances and other facts that put the video in context–in other words, the ‘weight of all the evidence’ along with how others interpret it. This is not a defense of this officer’s actions but a critique of you lack of wisdom and fairness in making your rash judgement. Take it from someone with more experience than you.
Yeah lets shoot the dude in the wheel chair then get those cuffs on him. He was obviously still a threat with his knife that’s on the ground. There was what three cops there? Can’t knock over the wheel chair and cuff the guy. Nah lets blow him away. Another out of control punk with a badge.
morons with badges. glad the old fart was white or we would have had major rioting and looting and arson. this way the old fart is a patriot and saves the government money on his sad upkeep where he can’t afford anything he needs to make believe he has a life and shoplifted something. remember we have to pay $5,000/mo to illigal mexican border invaders so we can’t afford to pay a disabled american veteran diddly squat. whoa. how about that $420,000 we are sorry we separated you from your dipshit parents. hey im 74 and im seriously thingking of getting into mexico and crossing the border and saying i identify as a 17yo and i don’t kno9w where my parents are. i can finally meet my grocery costs. if the old fart has relatives do you think they will get a similar payout the choked black guy’s family got? what was it $27 million? the sister got $8 million in two weeks after dying from a bad drug reaction. maybe i can get a few million for ibuprophen Rx that gave me kidney disease? no im old and im white im just glad not to be shot.
I’ve seen scams run about this time of year–been hit myself as well as friends working at a store–where a team goes out one in a wheelchair and the other as the mobile assistant/decoy, one person engages the salesperson while the disabled one steals stuff, the idea being the disabled person would not be suspected. When catching the disabled person they might (as in my case) try to claim they actually purchased it, or failing that excuse “absent mindedness” but they know once they are off-premises the odds go up they’ll get away with it. Not necessarily defending the actions of the cop–but context does count.
Murder one. Plain and simple.
Not premeditated if that’s what you mean by murder 1. Murder with malice, as in murder 2 in many states, I can see that. Fact that he was called there etc normally it would be manslaughter or a voluntary manslaughter type charge. Being a cop, probably murder 2.
As an Arizonan who often goes to and through Tucson, I’m happy that I will not cross this guy’s path while he’s wearing a badge.
Now, I’d feel that much safer if he was ALSO not allowed to enjoy our wonderfully liberal firearms ownership and carry laws.
What a tool!
Todd.
There is no way to justify this shooting period.
Everybody going crazy blaming the cop when there’s not even any pure proof here that the victim wasn’t about to do something sycho. I wanna see everything. Too many cases where they don’t show both sides.
In law there is a thing called an open & shut case. In this case no matter what happened before the shooting, the victime was moving away from the officers, They were not in any danger. 9 bullets in his back and side was most deffinately an extreme case of over reacting. A shot in the guys arm if they were worried he could harm some one in the store. The cop who did the shooting should get the maximun amount of prison time.
☝️Somebody watches too many movies… shoot him in the arm?! Moving away from the cop… but armed and moving toward the employees and customers of Lowe’s. The story leaves way too much unknown to decide he’s guilty.
So, if one is moving away from officers, there is no threat? Wow. What if he was getting dangerously close to others? Did you even think of that before writing? You might respond, “The article would have said so if he was an immediate threat to someone else”. Not so fast, Sal…this article is missing much info about what appears to be a really absurd case of murder. Perhaps, just perhaps, there is more to the story than we know.
I’m not defending him at all, but would like to know more before I decide he is guilty of murder. I’m just glad you, and many folks responding, will not be on the eventual jury when he stands trial.
First: If you can’t take a knife away from an old guy in a wheel chair by hand then you shouldn’t even be a cop.
Second: Since Walmarts now have off duty officers for security against mass shootings what does this cop care about some old guy filching a tool box. The cop’s job is to stand guard against mass shooters… not to go off post to chase a petty thief.
Third: You killed some old guy in a wheel chair over a tool box? That uniform won’t protect you from community outrage or, if he has relatives like me, having to move out of the state.
There was a time when a cop with a S&W .38 could take someone down with 1 or 2 shots. If the wheel chair guy was carrying an automatic pistol or rifle, maybe that would warrant 9 shots, but carrying a knife? Throw him a loaf of bread and tell him to make you a sandwich, don’t shoot him 9 times.
Why on earth did he have to resort to lethal force? Could he not have used non-lethal force like a taser or pepper spray to stop him? And why 9 rounds?
I normally stand firmly behind the police because I know how difficult and dangerous their job can be. My next door neighbor was a police officer for 12 years and was shot and killed on a traffic stop, leaving behind a wife and 2 children. This event, however was simply beyond the pale.
The Cop must be brain dead in this scene. Shooting a man in nine times in the back while the victim is in a wheel chair, wielding a knife. That’s NINE trigger pulls with intent. Now the police union states he should not have been fired. That’s the problem a man kills another man in a wheel chair and the brain dead police union says its justified, WERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY?. Were has this county come to? Is it second degree manslaughter or first degree murder?
14 years ago I made the mistake of walking past a highly agitated home hospice patient that was elderly and in a wheel chair. As I walked by, this “seemingly weak and spent shell of a human being” pulled a stun gun from under the blanket he had folded over his legs and jabbed it into the kidney area of my back and pulled the trigger. I felt the jab, heard the electrical arcing but thanks to my Kevlar vest felt nothing else. I slapped the stun gun out of his hand, and snatched his wrist, that’s when he reached under the blanket with his other hand, and I just screamed at him to stop as I snatched his other arm. In my agency we ride alone, so it was just me, the hospice nurse that had called us and the “elderly” terminally ill patient. Then with the help of the nurse, I was able to handcuff each of his wrists to the wheel chair arm rests. When I pulled off his blanket, a vintage 1911 A1 .45acp pistol had slid down between his legs. It was chambered, cocked and locked.
That shook me to the core and taught me a valuable lesson.
Just because someone is in a wheelchair chair doesn’t mean they can’t kill you or others with a concealed handgun.
I also learned from the nurse that the man was fully mobile and not wheel chair bound at all. The wheel chair was given to him by a neighbor!
So that’s the second lesson I learned, things are not always what they seem. A person in a wheel chair can get up and attack you in a second.
As a cop I get fed thousands of “officer safety” reminders throughout my career. I am required to view hundreds of real life video tapes of officers and others being killed by unlikely killers, in unusual circumstances. Videos that the “blame ready public and politicians” seldom get to see.
This in mind, while it is true that police officers are made up of human stuff and therefore imperfect, it is also true that society is seldom in a position to make such judgements.
99.9% of our actions are ultimately driven by you, as the subject. It is your actions, that initiate our response. After all, like YOU, we are also interested in living, and no, in 99.9% of the officer involved shootings we don’t run up and shoot people without cause.
Unlike you, if we do nothing, or not enough, and allow a subject in a wheel chair or otherwise, who has already brandished one weapon to disobey lawful commands and enter an occupied structure, and that wheel chair bound person then pulls a gun and starts shooting people because they want to kill and die by cop, we as the first responders get double crucified, and must live with the consequences and needless deaths in our hearts.
Folks you don’t know what you don’t know. I challenge you cop haters to push a beat for a year and see how you come out at the end. It will be an eye opening experience because being there, in real time is a hell of lot different than all your post incident armchair quarterbacking.
Anyone who speaks up authoritatively without training, experience, knowledge and presence in the given situation is a fool.
I respect a call for thorough review and investigation. But to wish a cop death based on a fraction of the facts is deplorable and only evidence of your own blood thirst.
Taking a life is the LAST thing any cop wants to do.
Could this have been handled differently?
Absolutely, the officer could have ignored the situation, the officer could have attempted to disarm the wheelchair bound subject and gotten killed in the process, the officer could have followed the subject into the store and allowed the subject to shoot a few people before taking action, the officer could have used his OC or his ECD, maybe they would have worked, maybe they would have just enraged the subject more, there are lots of maybe and could haves. I was not there. I don’t know what training or tools the officer had. If the officer is was trying to create time for more resources to arrive, he lost that opportunity when the subject commenced changing location.
Lots of things I don’t know, so I will reserve my opinion as relate to the officers actions.
Excellent comment. Thanks for hopefully enlighting those that quickly jump the gun with wishes of persecution of the peace officer in this case.
Thank you for taking the time to say this. It’s easy to be an arm chair quarter back. What’s hard is to step back and let the investigation run its course before judgement is made. Many years ago I was a Deputy and like you, I learned not everything is so cut & dried. Today with everyone carrying a phone and can video, edit videos and post them on social media, often theses videos only show part of the story. Everyone should set back take a deep breath and let this investigation finish before we play judge, jury and executioner.
Excellent point and applies to so many situations once the media gets a hold of them and often sensationalizes. People watching a few seconds of video assume he is actually disabled, elderly, etc. Be patient! Wait for all the facts. Funny how so many demand patience and prudence from police but don’t exhibit the same when presented with so little information. Yes, it looks bad but we’ve all been fooled over and over by the money grubbing media, who will stop at nothing to be the first to get any story out there, even if completely false. Denzel Washington said it well in 2016 when he said, “if you don’t watch the news your uninformed. If you do watch the news your misinformed”.
Sure seems to be a bad shoot but I agree we need to let him have his due process.
Investigate, if the facts match what the video shows then have a trial.
If convicted, put him in a wheel chain and shoot him in the back for all I care but he deserves due process as a citizen.
Before everyone gets worked into a froth over this single Media report, you should examine what other outlets are reporting! This so-claimed elderly (61-yr old) wheel-chair bound victim has an extensive and significant wrap sheet, that includes attempted murder! I’d like to see the unedited video. Yes, on this edited video it looks very bad, but in the cut-out segments, did the perp show that the use of the wheel chair is just a ruse. If he is independently mobile, the officers algorithm judging a threat changes to his favor.
INNOCENT until proven guilty – even for cops. They lay their lives on the line every day, I don’t care where or who they are, they definitely deserve the innocent until proven guilty. We really need to stop this “social justice by Instagram” judiciary and allow our judicial system to work. It usually works very well, although intentionally slow.
I agree, wholeheartedly, but after seeing something like this it makes you wonder. Obviously a police force is needed to enforce the laws of the land, otherwise we’ll have total anarchy. We’re not far from it now, what with the ‘left’ de-funding the police as fast as they can cut the budgets. But at a time when imagery is so critical to prove a point – how do we respond to this?
A man in a wheelchair? With a knife? Obviously with mental issues, or a death wish, or both? Shot in the back 9 times? Should’a, could’a, would’a I guess. Couldn’t he have deployed a taser? Pepper spray? A wack in the back of the head with his flashlight or billy-stick? Kick him over?
Is it any wonder people are starting to distrust the police so much? Police are always given the benefit of the doubt, as they should, but this is hard to justify.
To the people shouting ‘innocent until proven guilty’. That is a legal contstruct and citizens are free to make their own judgements about the case. This was a bad shoot, period. Less than lethal force would have been appropriate. Yes, the man could have been faking it and jumped out of the wheelchair, but 9 shots to the back was completely unjustified. And unless they somehow doctored the number of shots and the placement of the cop and the victim, then, while it should still be investigated, any editing of the video will be irrelevant.
To those pushing the ‘anti-innocent until proven guilty’ narrative, who feel so free to make snap judgements about things they are not qualified to even comment on, the truth is this: you don’t have the right to judge anyone’s actions without all the facts. These police shootings are local matters that can only be properly adjudicated by local witnesses, prosecutors and law enforcement. This continued national debate, with all its anti-local cop rhetoric, and the increasing animus towards all cops because of a few bad ones has only one endgame–a federal police force, a force that is governed and protected by the supremacy clause, that answers to no local authority and cannot be sued or have grievances brought against it in redress. It makes one wonder why GunsAmerica is pushing this narrative and why so many placate their egos with ignorant commentary regurgitated from stupid talking points they think makes them look more intelligent. Keep on! Eventually, you will get what you wish for…Federal Storm Troopers.
WLM should protest and loot in response to this shooting
Burn this city down!!!
Whatever happened to the use of a taser.
Well at least it was a white guy and the buildings will not be burnt down from the white folks having a riot.. Just imagine if that was a Black guy Buildings would go up in smoke and riots 24-7 for the next week and a half with MSM going hog wild
This was also my thinking and I was just going to post it, when I have suddenly seen your statement! There is nothing I could add to this, because you have nailed it already. Just one thing though: I personally wonder if the officer would have actually shot the guy in the first place, if he would have been black. Now, please do not get me wrong, because in both cases it would be, in my opinion, absolutely unjustified to use lethal options in this matter, no matter the skin color of the suspect, and the fact that they have even put handcuffs on him, after the officer has shot this guy to death, is just crazy. But the fact that there is no public outcry in this case, no demonstrations or anything else, which is very probably “just” because this poor guy was white, truly shows once again how f*cked up and racist (anti-white) our society has really become once more, unfortunately.
Before everyone gets worked into a froth over this single Media report, you should examine what other outlets are reporting! This so-claimed elderly (61-yr old) wheel-chair bound victim has an extensive and significant wrap sheet, that includes attempted murder! I’d like to see the unedited video. Yes, on this edited video it looks very bad, but in the cut-out segments, did the perp show that the use of the wheel chair is just a ruse. If he is independently mobile, the officers algorithm judging a threat changes to his favor. https://www.kvoa.com/news/n4t-investigators-criminal-background-richard-lee-richards/article_b56f4ecc-523e-11ec-9e5b-cbc1e7efd6ef.html
Ya i dont like cops either but jus because we dont see any danger dont mean there wasnt. Just because he was in a scooter not a wheelchair are you all willing to take that chance what if the guy all of a sudden jumped up and charged some kid,we see a fragile old man he seen a knife weilding criminal who by the way was not complying in any way was traveling towards the puplic. Of course this makes me mad yes by all means investigat but until you are faced with that kind of choose lets not condem till we all know the facts
I don’t like cops either. Moron statement
The only moron I see here is you. I bet you don’t like the police, how many run ins with the law have you had, asshat?
He should spend the rest of his life in jail. Trigger happy a55h01e.
We often hear non-gun people say “why didn’t you shoot him in the leg”
But in this case, a few shots to the mechanicals of the chair at the lower rear would have immobilized the guy.
How much of a threat did he really pose?? Its ridiculous.
Everybody going crazy blaming the cop when there’s not even any pure proof here that the victim wasn’t about to do something sycho. I wanna see everything. Too many cases where they don’t show both sides.
Here is some interesting reading for all the “He was harmless in a wheelchair” believers
What’s with you guys? What happened to due process? What happened to “innocent until proven guilty “?
Judge Dredd takes out a wheelchair shoplifter from behind. Well? Done. Dead knife-wielding, wheelchair-bound, back-to-the-cops, no-potential-victim-in-front, good shoot. Right.
Was his pepper spray empty?
Definitely appears to be a bad shoot. A full investigation should be done. Does not appear to be an immediate threat and less than lethal force would certainly seem appropriate. Cops, like any other profession have their bad apples. Don’t judge them all by the actions of a few. I’m sure whatever your profession is, there are murderers of the same profession as you.
This POS “police officer” needs to be tried for MURDER!!! If this old man were Black they probably would’ve helped him load up his scooter and given him a ride wherever he wanted to go. How the hell could he justify this or live with himself?? His family needs to sue the hell out of this city!!!!!
Obivioys this definatley was use of excessive force and this case should be prosecuted! How awful!!!!
Spelling Error “Obvious” please correct? Sorry!
How about “definatley””?
how about the old man was a piece of shit.. good riddance
this guy needs to put on trial for MURDER 1, there is NO way in hell a person with a knife is a deadly threat to anyone with a spine let alone someone with a gun, ESPECIALLY a guy in a WHEEL CHAIR. what would this X cop do if he were to encounter a little kid with a Stick shoot him too.
22 year police veteran here. WTF? No taser? No pepper spray? No physical ability to disarm a person in a wheelchair? What, you thought he would try to take hostages or go on a killing spree in the store? He’s in a freaking wheelchair! NINE shots?
Most shoots get an officer paid time off while the investigation is conducted.
Or how about a shot into the mechanicals of the chair hanging off the back.
Mechanics? And if the bullet over-penetrates? Jesus. You sound like all these clowns who say “shoot him in the leg”.
And had to fire 9 shots lol.
9 times in the back of someone moving away from you? Violated multiple use of force policies? And he’s still out walking around? Anyone else without blue line privileges would be sitting in jail awaiting trial already.
The Mayor just pulled a joe biden and made a judgement comment before there was even an indictment! What in hell is a trial by jury for if the printed press is going to convict with statements that should not even be made verbally? Doctored Video? What fool did that? Are the officials going to claim white supremacy and say the officer is a domestic terrorist? Let’s go Brandon
Criminal prosecution is certainly appropriate in this case. What an awful decision by this alleged officer. He should be prosecuted. There is no excuse to let him free.
Play stupid games win stupid prizes. More people should be given the same sentence.
Is this cop kidding me he should be prosecuting to the fullest extend of the law he murdered a man in a wheelchair .
I can see why this violates the “Use of Force” guidelines by pretty much any department’s standards. Certainly, the man was armed with a knife, and he presented a certain level of risk, but the level of risk due to his wheelchair confinement certainly limits that risk. The subject most certainly could have been physically subdued by the 2 officers that were on the scene at that very moment. Had there only been even one shot, perhaps, but 9??? I do not, as a former officer, feel that even one shot was warranted here, but the true question is were 9 necessary??? That answer is a resounding NO….
damm night stick would of taken the knife out of his hand,ah but the easy way is to shoot him in the back.Works everly time brave cop
I nightstick or Broomhandle in the spokes of his wheelchair would have stopped the threat.
This pig is a murderer no matter if somebody totally fabricated the video. There is no possible reason to shoot a Elderly person in a wheelchair even if he had a Sword. This murderous pig is deranged and even though he was immediately fired the department is still liable. They should not have hired him. 7 SHOTS ???
How the hell would you know? What happened to waiting for the facts?
We all saw the vast majority of the facts on the video. Eight shots with a pause before putting a well aimed 9th round for the kill shot… on an elderly invalid whose wheelchair stopped moving well before the cop’s trigger finger did? He shot him for trying to re-enter the store – not because he posed any real threat to any other person. Hold out for the jury decision if you want, but basic common sense is all you need to know about where this one is going. The cop is a straight cold sociopath… and he’s about to get COOKED!
This is the result of police and military worship.
The “Back The Blue,” “Thin Blue Line,” and “U-S-A! U-S-A!, U-S-A!” worship of emissaries of the State bearing lethal force is dangerous.
The Founders warned us about standing armies.
There are far too many police officers with the same mentality as BLM activists.
No COVID tyranny is possible without lethal-force-bearing, order followers.
From the video it does look like excessive use of force against someone who was not an imminent threat to the officers or the public. But if the video is edited as the officer claims, it should be thoroughly investigated.
Cops these days. The Cisco Kid would have lassoed that toolbox rustler and returned that branded wheelchair back to the ranch he stole it from.
WTF! I can’t even describe how ridiculous that was??? Is this officer related to Alec Baldwin?
I always think we should wait until all the facts come in on these cases. From 1st look this does appear to be wrong and an excellent time to use a tazer or less than lethal force. Its also possible that the guy in the wheel chair threatened to harm the next person he came across.
Yayyy! He shot an old man in a wheelchair 9 times and handcuffed a dead man. All while off duty. If there was no video evidence or witnesses, they’d investigate themselves and find no wrongdoing.
Surprised he didn’t track down the man’s dog to let go of another 9 bullets.