Report: Fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose was "entirely preventable"
CINCINNATI -- The fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose was "entirely preventable," according to a 68-page report released Friday by the University of Cincinnati.
On July 19, now-former UC police officer Ray Tensing shot and killed DuBose during a traffic stop. He has pleased not guilty to charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the case.
The report finds that Tensing's initial interaction with DuBose was appropriate but he then "made critical errors in judgment and exercised poor police tactics that created a hazard of serious bodily injury or death and heightened the risks of a dangerous escalation."
Tensing has said he shot DuBose in the head after being dragged as DuBose drove off, but the report says the video and audio from Tensing's body camera contradict that: "At no point in the body camera video footage does it appear that Tensing's arm is lodged or caught in the steering wheel of the Accord or other aspect of the car's interior."
The report also found that Tensing's version of events were not "factually accurate," that he "escalated the situation" and "set in motion the fatal chain of events that led to the death of Dubose."
The investigative company also says that the two other officers on the scene, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt, "acted properly, professionally," and in accordance with procedure. The two had been criticized for initially supporting Tensing's version of events but the report found that their subsequent statements were "credible and consistent with the evidence, their respective points of observation, and normal discrepancies associated with human observation and recollection of fast-moving events."
