University of the Incarnate Word senior Robert Cameron Redus was fatally shot in a struggle with a UIW police officer Friday morning, a neig...
University of the Incarnate Word senior Robert Cameron Redus was fatally shot in a struggle with a UIW police officer Friday morning, a neighbor overheard what may have been his last words.nn"I heard (a man) say, 'Oh, you're gonna shoot me?'" in a surprised voice, said Mohammad Haidarasl, 22, who was on his couch in his ground-floor unit at the Treehouse Apartments in Alamo Heights at about 2 a.m.nnLess than a minute later, Haidarasl heard four to six gunshots.nn"I jumped up and hid in my closet," he said.nnHaidarasl didn't look out the window until he heard emergency vehicles converging on the quiet apartment complex. It wasn't until later that he realized the person shot was his upstairs neighbor, whom he described as "the nicest guy."nnRedus, 23, would have graduated from UIW in May, university officials said. He was on the dean's list in fall 2012 and spring 2013, the university's website noted.nnVideos from UIWTV.org, a campus television station operated by students in the Communication Arts Department, showed Redus anchoring news segments last year.nnHe had four brothers and grew up in Baytown, where he graduated as co-valedictorian from Baytown Christian Academy, friends said.nnA statement released by the family said, "We are understandably devastated by the death of our dear son Cameron and we ask for your prayers as we deal with our tragic loss. We trust that God is faithful and will see us through this most difficult time."nnAs details of the shooting were slow to emerge Friday, friends had questions about what exactly occurred when UIW police Cpl. Christopher J. Carter tried to pull Redus over for a traffic violation, and whether the use of force was necessary.nnSara Davis, 20, and her sister Annie Jones, 22, both of Baytown, described Redus as kind, intelligent, compassionate and well-loved within the community.nn"He was not an aggressive person at all, so the story doesn't make sense," Davis said.nnAlamo Heights police Lt. Cindy Pruitt said Carter, in a marked UIW pickup, told officials he noticed Redus speeding and driving his Ford Ranger pickup erratically on Broadway.nnHe was not on campus, Pruitt said, and officials did not give an exact location where Carter first spotted Redus.nnPruitt 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.nnOnce 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.nnHe was pronounced dead at the scene.nnCarter has been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, the university announced Friday afternoon. He was described by university officials as having an "extensive law enforcement background."nnOver the course of Carter's eight-year law career in Texas, he has held nine jobs at eight agencies, including two stints at the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, files kept by the state agency for licensing peace officers show.nnHe rarely was at an agency more than a year and his shortest job was for seven months as a reserve officer for the San Antonio Municipal Court Marshals Division. So far, the two years and seven months he's spent at UIW is the longest stretch of employment, the files show.nnThe University of the Incarnate Word employs 17 police officers who all are licensed and trained as state-certified peace officers, university spokeswoman Debra Del Toro said. None of the officers carries a Taser.nnA state-licensed peace officer working for a private institution can enforce state and municipal laws outside the campus jurisdiction in a variety of instances, says the Texas Education Code, which governs the agencies.nnThat includes "whether the officer is on property under the control and jurisdiction of the institution, but provided these duties are consistent with the educational mission of the institution and are being performed within a county in which the institution has land," the code states.nn"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the student and officer involved in this incident," UIW President Dr. Lou Agnese said in a news release.nnPolice were investigating whether Redus had a weapon or was threatening the police officer's life, Pruitt said. The Texas Rangers are assisting in the investigation.nn"This is really in its preliminary stages," Pruitt said. "This investigation will go on for days."nnHaidarasl said no one from the Alamo Heights Police Department had tried contacting him, other than Friday morning when he went outside and officers told him he wouldn't be able to move his truck for a while.nnFriday afternoon, he stood and chatted with neighbor Bea Perry, who lives in the same building. She, too, expressed surprise that Redus was the one shot by officers. Less
