Watch an Ohio police officer refuse to shoot a murder suspect rushing him

Rookie Officer Jesse Kidder made a tough call, and didn&#039;t shoot this murder suspect — (Image credit: AP/YouTube)

Well, this is a nice change of pace from recent police encounters captured on video: Last week in New Richmond, Ohio, Officer Jesse Kidder pulled over a man suspected of a double homicide, drew his gun, and watched as the man rushed him yelling "shoot me"; Kidder didn't. Instead, he backed up, even falling backward at one point. The whole encounter was recorded on a $400 body camera Kidder's family bought for him after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

Kidder, an Iraq War veteran, has only been on the force for a year, but "for him to make the judgment call that he did shows great restraint and maturity," Police Chief Randy Harvey told the local news station. He added that if Kidder had shot the murder suspect, Michael Wilcox, it would clearly have been justifiable homicide. The New Richmond Police Department has released the body-cam video, and you can watch Kidder's harrowing encounter, narrated by Chief Harvey, below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.