Noble says the wheelchair might have kept the officer from using a TASER because the chair would get in the way of a typical TASER hit which is to the back, but there are still options less lethal than a gun. So that would be certainly a consideration that a reasonable officer would have is that there's a possibility that this person is not confined physically to that wheelchair and in fact, they may very well be mobile.”īut Noble notes throughout the incident Richards never tries to get out of the chair. “The officer doesn't know whether or not the person who's in a wheelchair is in fact, disabled at all, you know, whether or not the person can actually get out of the wheelchair. Noble says the officers could not safely assume sitting in a wheelchair made Richards unable to get up and hurt someone with his knife. What’s at issue is whether Richard Richards’ actions justified shooting him. Noble says making threats with a knife was a crime that required police attention. The attorney for the Tucson Police Officer's Association, Mike Storie, has said the videos offer an incomplete record of what happened and that Remington feels his use of force was appropriate. He has studied use of force, co-written books on the topic and testified in court cases where police deadly force was an issue. Jeff Noble served as a deputy police chief in two California police departments. Police say 61 year old Richard Richards stole a tool box from Walmart and pulled out a knife when store staff challenged him, then rolled away in a motorized wheelchair.
KGUN9 on Your Side asked an expert in police use of force to look at what Officer Ryan Remington did in the shooting on November 29th.
(KGUN) - Tucson Police have started the process to fire an officer who shot and killed a man in a wheelchair.