Texas Campus Officer Kills Student During Struggle

Dec. 10, 2013
A student was fatally shot by an officer during a struggle after an early-morning traffic stop on Friday.

A vigil was planned for Saturday at San Antonio's University of the Incarnate Word for a Baytown student who was fatally shot by a campus officer during a struggle after an early-morning traffic stop.

Killed in the 2:30 a.m. Friday incident in the San Antonio suburb of Alamo Heights was Robert Cameron Redus, 23, a communications major scheduled to graduate in May. Redus, who had graduated as co-valedictorian from Baytown Christian Academy and twice been listed on the university's dean's list, was declared dead at the scene.

The Texas Rangers have joined the Alamo Heights Police Department in investigating the case.

Police department spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Pruitt said the incident began when university police Cpl. Christopher Carter saw Redus driving his pickup erratically at a high rate of speed down a major city thoroughfare. When Redus pulled into the parking lot of the Alamo Heights apartment complex in which he lived, a struggle ensued. Carter radioed for help, Pruitt said.

She said Redus was shot multiple times. She did not say whether Redus carried a weapon. Carter, a five-year veteran, has been placed on administrative leave pending completion of the investigation.

Another resident of the apartment complex, Mohammad Haidarasl, told the San Antonio Express-News he heard a man say, "Oh, you're gonna shoot me?" seconds before he heard four to six gunshots. "I up and hid in my closet," he said.

Haidarasl said he didn't look out his window until he heard emergency vehicles converging on the scene. "He was the nicest guy," he said of Redus, his upstairs neighbor.

University student body president Jonathan Guajardo said the vigil is planned for 7 p.m. at Incarnate Word's grotto.

In a Friday statement, Redus' parents asked for prayers as they "deal with our tragic loss."

"We trust that God is faithful and will see us through this most difficult time," they said.

Redus' friends described him as kind, intelligent and well-loved in the community.

"He was not an aggressive person at all, so the story doesn't make sense," Sara Davis, of Baytown said.

Added another friend, Annie Jones, "We're mostly just angry and want answers at this point. The only solace that I can find is I'll see him again one day. I know where he is. That's really the only solace I can find right now."

Copyright 2013 - Houston Chronicle

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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