Newly released body cam video of a July police shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, appears to show a black man being shot in the back as he walked away from officers.
David Collie, 33, was paralyzed as a result of the shooting, which occurred after officers misidentified him as a robbery suspect. He did not have a gun, but police said he had a silver box cutter in his possession at the time.
Collie’s attorney, Nate Washington, released the body cam video on Facebook. You can watch it below.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Collie Was Shot in the Back Within Seconds
According to The New York Daily News, officers approached Collie, and he was shot in the back within seconds of the encounter. The body cam video above appears to show him walking away at the time.
Here’s a closer version:
The Guardian reported that Collie’s attorney released the video in part to allege a pattern of citizen abuse by Fort Worth officers. “This release of dashcam footage comes on the heels of another recording involving alleged police misconduct in Fort Worth posted on Facebook Live last week. It showed an officer aggressively arresting a woman and her two daughters,” the site said.
Jacqueline Craig, her daughter, Brea Hymond, and another daughter, who is a juvenile, were arrested on December 22 by an unnamed Fort Worth officer after Craig called 911 to report that a neighbor had assaulted her young son for littering.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="161" width="242" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
2. Collie Spent 61 Days in the Hospital
After the shooting, Collie spent 61 days recovering in a hospital, handcuffed to the bed, and he is now paralyzed from the waist down, his attorney said.
3. Police Have Released Little Information on the Shooting
Police have still not released the name of the officer who fired his weapon or police reports on the shooting, even though it happened in July, CNN reported.
CNN reported that police “contended Collie was shot after he refused to comply with orders to stop and an officer misidentified a ‘silver object’ in his hand as pistol, which he believed Collie was pointing at the deputy.” It was a silver box cutter, according to CNN.
Collie’s attorney says he posed no threat to the officers, reported The Washington Post. Fox 6 reported that it’s unclear from the video whether Collie was holding the box cutter as police say.
4. Police Mistakenly Thought Collie Might be a Gas Station Robber
The Washington Post said a gas station had just been robbed nearby by two shirtless men. When they encountered him, Collie was not wearing a shirt.
However, he was not the robber. The officers were off duty working security at the time.
5. Collie Was Initially Facing Possible Charges but a Grand Jury Failed to Indict Him
A grand jury was asked to consider issuing aggravated assault of a public servant charges against Collie but chose not to do so.
Bearing Arms has a frame-by-frame break down on its site of the shooting, arguing that officers mistook the box cutter for a weapon and that Collie should not have walked away from them.