Watching the video above one gets a sense of how fast things escalate in real time. The deputies from Randolph County, North Carolina, were at the door and seconds later one of them takes a knife to the chest. Luckily, the deputy’s body armor stopped the blade from penetrating his skin.
Lesson I learned: distance is your friend. If you believe someone is armed with a knife, backing off and creating space is what you want to do. By making it more difficult for them to close in on you, you also give yourself more time to react.
In this particular case, that officer would have been totally justified in using deadly force just prior to the stabbing. That scumbag is very fortunate the deputy did not.
From WFMY:
RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — A video recorded by a Randolph County deputy’s body camera shows a man attacked a deputy with a knife. We are seeing the dangers our police are facing like we’ve never seen it before thanks to these body-worn cameras. The incident happened in December and WFMY News 2 got access to the footage.
“It’s beautiful evidence. When you can show a jury or a judge exactly what happened at the scene and what the officer was faced with and why he chose whatever course of action he chose, a picture’s worth a thousand words,” said Sgt. Bernie Maness with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.
Two deputies responded to a call from a concerned family member and in seconds that simple call turned violent. The suspect walks out of the home and stabs one of the deputies. Luckily, the deputy’s vest stopped the knife.
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“To see it, you realize the guy’s intent was to harm this officer. And to stab him in the upper chest with a knife is pretty serious attempted injury,” Sgt. Maness said.
Ironically, the sheriff’s office is only testing two body cameras and one caught the attack on video.