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basicallyProbable cause is the end all catch all statement. It’s written in there for a reason
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basicallyProbable cause is the end all catch all statement. It’s written in there for a reason
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett on Thursday released body camera video that shows a police shooting that wounded a 9-year-old girl and led to a Wichita officer being fired in January.
Dexter Betts was at the girl's home in response to a 911 call on Dec. 30 when he shot twice at her dog, a 35- to 40-pound English bull terrier named Chevy. The girl was sitting behind the dog on the floor in the living room. Three other children were also in the room.
Betts' rounds missed their target. But bullet fragments that ricocheted off of the concrete floor under the carpet hit the 9-year-old's face above her eye, injuring her.
Betts defense attorney has said the dog was attacking the officer.
Former Wichita police officer Dexter Betts is charged with one count of aggravated battery in a shooting that wounded a 9-year-old girl on Dec. 30, 2017.
Courtesy photo Sedgwick County Jail
An attorney for the girl's family, Charley O'Hara, has previously told The Eagle that the girl was directly in Betts' line of sight and line of fire when he pulled the trigger. The body camera video Bennett released Thursday in response to a request from The Eagle shows the girl partially illuminated by Betts' flashlight in the moments before the shooting.
The footage shows Betts and another officer approaching the house with flashlights and going in through the front door. Two of the children are standing in front of a television in the living room. The girl is sitting on the floor in front of a couch. Betts checks the hallway and a few rooms quickly then returns to the living room.
"Ok, we got a dog inside here, too," he says on the video.
Right after, Betts shouts "Whoa! Whoa!" The camera swings over to show a dog moving on the floor between Betts and the girl. It barks. Betts fires two shots.
The girl immediately wails, "Ow! Ow! Ow, you hurt my eye! Ow! Ow!"
Betts then tells the children to get out.
When Betts is asked over his police radio what happened, he says: "Dog inside attacked us."
The video Bennett released Thursday to The Eagle is 6 minutes, 22 seconds long. A copy of it is published on www.Kansas.com.
It's rare for body camera footage from Wichita police to be released. The Eagle sued the cityafter it denied requests to release body camera video that shows an Iraqi American family being detained at a Wichita bank in September and footage connected to a hit-and-run crash that allegedly involved an off-duty Wichita police officer who had been drinking.
Bennett agreed to release the body camera video in the December shooting in response to a request from The Eagle after parts of it were shown in court during a hearing last week.
Evidence presented in open court, including video footage, becomes part of the public record even if it hasn’t been released before.
Not sure what I just watched but they sure as hell are brave for sticking around. I would just get up and leave. I’m not risking getting killed for IG vids
I get why folks would run though, any interaction with the wrong cop could go wrong.