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Dash Cam Video Appears To Show FW Officer Shoot Man In Back

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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Fort Worth Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left a local man paralyzed.

The shooting happened in late July while police were searching for two suspects involved in an alleged robbery at a gas station.

Newly released dash cam footage appears to show the moment a Fort Worth Police officer shot David Collie in the back as he walked away.

Investigators said an off-duty Fort Worth police officer and an off-duty Tarrant County sheriff's deputy were traveling in a marked car when they pulled up to an apartment complex on the 8700 block of N. Normandale Street.

The two encountered Collie as he was walking on a sidewalk.

Police said the officer called out to Collie to stop and show his hands, but instead kept walking.

A few seconds later, investigators said the FWPD officer fired two shots and hit Collie once in the abdomen.

"It's gut-wrenching for David and his family to have a 33-year-old man whose life changed forever," said Nate Washington, the attorney representing Collie. "We don't live in a police state. An officer does not have the right to stop and detain anyone they want to stop and detain."

Washington said Collie spent the next two months cuffed to a hospital bed where he laid paralyzed from the abdomen down to his feet.

"This is a new normal for David. Legs that don't work are his new normal," said Washington.

Investigators said Collie flashed something silver that night that appeared to be a gun. They later said they found a box cutter near Collie.

Police filed charges for assault on an officer, but a grand jury dismissed the case.

Washington disputes the box cutter belonged to his client and said he now wants the officer charged and an overhaul of how the Fort Worth Police Department handles race.

"The officer is supposed to be the person who deescalates. The officer is the professional. The officer is the one with the training and the officer is the one with a weapon strapped to his hip. The officer has to be better," said Washington.

Fort Worth police would not comment specifically on the allegations but informed the public the officer involved has been placed on paid, administrative leave while internal affairs investigates.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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