SAN ANTONIO — An audio and video recording of the shooting death of Cameron Redus by University of the Incarnate Word Police Cpl. Chris Carter was released Thursday by the Alamo Heights Police Department, two days after a Bexar County grand jury elected not to indict Carter for the shooting.
Redus was shot five times at close range by Carter following a traffic stop a few blocks north of campus in early December 2013. The 23-year-old student died at the scene.
In the audio, the more than 13-minute confrontation plays out. The video of the incident only shows the back seat of Carter’s police truck. A front-facing camera in the truck was not operational, investigators have previously said.
KENS 5 is publishing a transcribed version of the video for our viewers. The audio was released by the Alamo Heights Police Department in response to a KENS 5 open records request. The Redus family lawyer has heard the recording. The family has fought for this recording to be released to the public for more than a year.
In the audio, Carter clearly identifies his location as the first light past Preston at an apartment complex behind the bank. That location was inaccurate, causing San Antonio Police to initially respond to an address in East San Antonio, several miles away.
Carter then radios dispatch after shooting Redus and says he can see a nearby landmark, the Pegasus Mobil Station. Alamo Heights police vehicles arrive on scene moments later.
At one point, Carter asks Redus where they are, asking for a street name.
Carter asks Redus to put his hands on the hood, then his hands behind his back. Redus says several times he is scared and at multiple points says he is scared that he is about to be sexually assaulted.
Carter tells Redus to put his hands behind his back dozens of times and tells him to stop resisting.
It takes Carter more than five minutes before he tells Redus to get on the ground. Carter goes on to tell Redus that he is under arrest.
Throughout the confrontation, the sound of a phone ringing in silent mode can be heard. It is unclear whose phone is ringing. At one point, Carter tells Redus to give him his phone.
Previously, UIW released a statement saying Redus had grabbed Carter’s baton from him and was trying to hit Carter. From the audio and video, it’s unclear whether a baton was involved.
Around 10 minutes from when Carter and Redus first begin talking, there appears to be some sort of physical fight.
Redus claims at one point that Carter is trying to put him in a choke hold, then Carter tells Redus to stop resisting or he will shoot.
Once Carter tells Redus he will shoot, Redus’ voice becomes increasingly more clear. Redus asks, “Is this what police do? They shoot people?” and Carter continues to tell Redus to stop resisting.
Finally, the six shots can be heard. KENS 5 did not include the shots in the recording in this web story.
Earlier this week a Bexar County grand jury decided not to indict Carter in the death.
Carter told investigators that Redus became combative after he had pulled him over. The officer told investigators he was forced to shoot him following a six-minute physical confrontation.
A report released by the Alamo Heights Police Department indicates Carter appeared not to know where he was during the incident.
According to the three-page report written by Alamo Heights Police Officer C.D. Lopez, Carter told a campus dispatcher he was unable to provide an exact location other than a street name (Preston) and that he was behind an unknown bank.
The Dec. 6, 2013, call was then handed off to San Antonio Police dispatchers, since the only Preston in the San Antonio-area is Preston Avenue, approximately seven miles from Carter’s actual location at 100 Grandview Place.
An autopsy performed the next day by the Bexar County Medical Examiner shows Redus was shot in the left eye, the upper chest, the back, the left elbow and the right hip.
UIW is appealing a March decision by a state district judge that denied the university’s motion to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Redus’ family months after the fatal shooting.
Records obtained by KENS 5 from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement show Carter had nine law enforcement jobs with eight different agencies from September 2004 to May 2011.
Prior to being hired by UIW, records indicate Carter did not stay at any of the previous departments longer than 18 months.
His tenure with the City of San Antonio Marshal’s Division lasted just five months.
A marshal supervisor told the KENS 5 I-Team that Carter was a bailiff and was not permitted to carry a weapon.
The supervisor could not recall why Carter left in April 2009.
Records indicate Carter landed as a peace officer with the Mathis Police Department eight days after leaving the marshal’s office.
Carter’s prior law enforcement employment included two stints with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Neither stint lasted longer than seven months.
According to TCOLE, Carter also spent time with the George West Police Department, Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office, Cibolo Police Department and Marion Police Department.
Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward told the I-Team that Carter left the sheriff’s office in September 2007 without giving a clear indication why.
Carter did not have a disciplinary history with any of the agencies contacted by the I-Team.
