Taken from dash cam video, this image shows 70-year-old Bobby Canipe pulling out his cane from the bed of his truck. York County Deputy Terrance Knox mistook the cane for a shotgun and fired six shots at Canipe, shooting him in the chest. (Image via WSOC-TV)

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YORK, S.C. — A South Carolina deputy who shot a 70-year-old North Carolina man after mistaking his cane for a shotgun will not be charged.

HeraldOnline.com reported that prosecutors will not file criminal charges against York County Deputy Terrance Knox.

The incident happened Feb. 25 after Knox, 24, pulled over Bobby Canipe of Lincolnton, North Carolina, for expired tags.

He was pulled over after dark on a four-lane highway near Clover outside Charlotte. Authorities determined that the shooting was an accident.

“In the split seconds he had to assess the situation in the darkness his fear was entirely reasonable,” Solicitor Kevin Brackett wrote in a letter to the State Law Enforcement Division.

Canipe was shot after he got out of his pickup and reached for his cane in the truck’s bed. The deputy fired six shots, thinking it was a shotgun. The victim was shot in the chest, but survived.

The deputy had been placed on administrative leave, but has since returned to work.

Read more: HeraldOnline.com