A 23-year-old college student was shot dead Friday by a campus police officer during a traffic stop near the campus of University of the Incarnate Word, local ABC affiliate KTRK is reporting.
Cameron Redus, a senior at the university and native of Baytown, Texas, was pulled over around 2:30 a.m. just a few blocks from the San Antonio campus for allegedly speeding and driving erratically, according to KTRK.
The officer, identified as Cpl. Chris Carter, said he got into a scuffle with Redus shortly after the stop, according to The New York Daily News.
“I heard (a man) say, 'Oh, you're gonna shoot me?' like sarcastic almost,” Mohammad Haidarasl, who was in an apartment nearby, told MySanAntonio.com. He heard between four to six gunshots less than a minute later.
Alamo Heights police Lt. Cindy Pruitt gave more details to MySanAntonio.com:
Pruitt said both vehicles, with Carter's emergency lights on, drove north on Broadway until they pulled into the parking lot of the Treehouse Apartments at Broadway and Arcadia Place.
Once in the parking lot, they both got out of their vehicles and became involved in a struggle, Pruitt said. The officer radioed for help during the struggle and Redus was shot multiple times.
Redus was pronounced dead at the scene, according to The New York Daily News.
"He's not an aggressive person at all, so the story just doesn't really make sense to any of us," Redus' longtime friend Sarah Davis told KTRK.
Redus was an academic standout and co-valedictorian at his last school, Baytown Christian Academy, where his mother also teaches, according to MySanAntonio.com.
"Baytown Christian Academy is saddened by the news that a former student and the child of one of our employees was shot and killed in San Antonio last night," the school said in a statement, according to KTRK. "Our hearts and prayers go out to this young man's family."
The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is under investigation, and Redus' family has hired an attorney, KTRK reports.