Family: Police account of son's death rings false

AP

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The family of a San Antonio university student shot and killed by a campus police officer says the police account is inconsistent with their son's character.

Robert Redus, a 23-year-old student at the University of the Incarnate Word, was shot repeatedly Friday when he charged campus police Cpl. Chris Carter after a traffic stop, Alamo Heights police have said.

But in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News (http://bit.ly/1gYg5xA ), the Redus family said they do not believe the report.

Redus "has never been an aggressive or confrontational person … For him to confront a police officer would be completely out of his character," the statement said.

Redus and Carter struggled when Carter tried to handcuff Redus during a traffic stop for speeding and erratic driving, Alamo Heights Police Chief Richard Pruitt said at a news conference Monday. Redus wrestled Carter's baton away and hit him with it before Carter retrieved it and told Redus to stop or he would shoot, Pruitt said.

Redus turned around and charged Carter with an arm raised to strike him, Pruitt said. Carter fired his .40-caliber semi-automatic weapon six times, hitting Redus five times — in the chest, neck, eye, arm and thigh, Pruitt said.

"The investigating authorities quickly cleaned up the scene and even searched his apartment before we arrived in San Antonio," the family said in the statement. They have not spoken directly with the media.

In the statement, the family also said that Redus, who grew up in the Houston suburb of Baytown, went out with friends on Thursday night to celebrate the end of the semester.

The patrol car's dashcam was not working, Pruitt said. An audio recording of the shooting has not been released.