LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A rookie Kansas police officer charged in a shooting that wounded a man during a confrontation at a seat-belt enforcement site told investigators that she intended to fire her Taser but instead used her firearm, according to an affidavit released Thursday.
The affidavit in the case against Lawrence Officer Brindley Blood said she didn't realize she had shot Akira Lewis until she looked for the Taser wires to see if they had hit their mark and realized there weren't any, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. Blood, who graduated from the police academy just six months before the May 29 shooting, was charged in August with aggravated battery.
"I shot, shot him, I pulled my firearm instead of my Taser," she said during her interview with investigators.
The affidavit said Lewis refused to cooperate after another officer, Ian McCann, pulled him over for a suspected seat-belt violation near downtown Lawrence. Lewis is accused of hitting McCann and slamming him to the ground before Blood shot him.
"She stated she 'honestly can't even give you an answer as to how I ended up with my firearm in my hand,'" the affidavit said Blood told investigators with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. "It wasn't until after I pulled my trigger that I realized it wasn't my Taser.'"
Lewis was treated at a hospital and charged with several misdemeanors, including battery against a law enforcement officer, interference with law enforcement and driving without proof of insurance.
Sgt. Amy Rhoads, a police spokeswoman, said Blood remains on administrative leave. The Lawrence police department said then that it was conducting an internal review to determine if any department policies were violated.
The Douglas County prosecutor's office didn't immediately respond to an email asking whether Blood and Lewis have attorneys.
