Texas deputy reportedly told colleague: "I just took out a su subject" following unjustified lethal force incident against an unarmed individual.
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Cop on the Day Off: The Fateful Encounter Between Timothy Randall and Deputat Shane Iversen
During a balmy night in Henderson, Texas, Timothy Michael Randall, 29, found himself on the receiving end of an unexpected encounter with a local law enforcement officer. This run-in, on a remote country road two hours east of Dallas, quickly spiraled out of control, leaving a family reeling and raising questions about the use of force by police.
Randall's mother, Wendy Tippit, recalls that he had been out for the evening and phoned her to let her know he'd be at her cousin's house soon. However, their conversation was cut short as a police car's lights began flashing behind Randall's Nissan Altima. It was nearly 12:30 AM on September 14, 2022.
Iversen, a 57-year-old deputy with the Rusk County Sheriff's Office, suspected Randall of running a stop sign based on police dashcam footage. Although Randall insisted otherwise, Iversen ordered him out of the car and, after a struggle, managed to take him down to the pavement. The footage shows Randall pleading for an explanation as Iversen pinned him to the ground.
In startling fashion, Iversen fired a single shot, striking Randall in the chest. Randall attempted to run down the street but collapsed on the pavement. Iversen called for medical assistance, but it was too late to save Randall. An autopsy showed the bullet had tear through his ribs, lungs, and heart.
However, Wendy Tippit and her family were in the dark about the circumstances surrounding her son's death in the following weeks and months. It wasn't until two months later, when a grand jury returned a no bill in the case, that she began searching for answers. The second shock came last summer when she obtained the dashcam footage following the filing of a federal lawsuit.
"The only person that was attacking anybody was Sgt. Iversen attacking my son," Tippit said.
The incident left the small, tight-knit community in shock. Iversen, who had been with the force for 13 years, retired quietly following the shooting and fought to keep the video from being made public.
The case has garnered limited attention outside of Rusk County, leaving the family to grapple with their loss in isolation. Many have argued that, in the eyes of the police and the broader public, Randall's life didn't truly matter.
"Me and my family, we don't come from money," Douglas, Randall's older brother, lamented. "No one has shown remorse."
Randall's life, like those of many others, was complex and marked by struggle. After graduating from high school, where he excelled in sports, he found work as a welder. However, a series of drug-related arrests resulted in felony convictions and prison time. Nevertheless, family members remember Randall as an optimistic individual who always chose to see the positive in life.
Iversen, on the other hand, was a decorated Army special forces soldier with a decorated military career. However, the different paths they were on at the time of their encounter did little to prepare either man for the fateful confrontation that took place on that Texas road.
Reflecting on his military experience in Iraq, Iversen noted that he'd been involved in numerous firefights. When it came to the encounter with Randall, Iversen claimed he felt threatened by Randall's furtive gestures and a soft object in his pocket that he believed to be a weapon. Iversen was moving quickly and aggressively, throwing Randall to the ground and firing his weapon when he felt the situation had become dangerous.
However, two police use-of-force experts interviewed by NBC News concluded that Iversen's actions were unwarranted. Both agreed that Randall had behaved calmly and had shown no signs of being a threat to Iversen. They argued that Iversen should have de-escalated the situation rather than resorting to violence.
Wendy Tippit is pressing on in her pursuit of justice for her son. Despite the initial no bill return by the grand jury and Iversen's efforts to keep the video from being released, she refuses to be silenced. Whether her crusade for justice will ultimately prove successful remains to be seen.
- The dashcam footage, which showed Randall's encounter with Deputy Shane Iversen, was impounded for several months until Wendy Tippit obtained it following the filing of a federal lawsuit.
- The general-news outlet NBC News consulted two police use-of-force experts, who found that Randall, despite his past, had acted calmly during the encounter and that Deputy Iversen's actions were unwarranted, as he should have de-escalated the situation instead of resorting to violence.
- Wendy Tippit, Randall's mother, believes that both Iversen, who retired after the shooting and fought to keep the video from being made public, and the broader public, have not given Randall's life the importance it deserved in the crime-and-justice narrative, as they argue that Randall's life didn't truly matter.
