A black St. Louis, Missouri, police officer was shot by a colleague while off duty this week, an encounter in which the injured officer's lawyer says race was a factor. "In the police report you have so far, there is no description of a threat [the shooter] received," said attorney Rufus J. Tate Jr. in a local news interview. "So we have a real problem with that. But this has been a national discussion for the past two years. There is this perception that a black man is automatically feared."
The off-duty officer was at home when he heard commotion outside and took his police-issued firearm to investigate. When two cops pursuing a suspect saw him, they "ordered him to the ground." He complied, and was recognized by his coworkers, who told him "to stand up and walk toward them."
At that moment, a fourth officer arrived. "[F]earing for his safety and apparently not recognizing the off-duty officer," the police report says, he immediately shot the off-duty cop in the arm.
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All officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the departmental investigation proceeds. The officer who was shot was released from the hospital after treatment.
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