Ohio Photographer Shot By Deputy Who Mistook Camera For Weapon: Newspaper

COLUMBUS, OH — A photographer for The New Carlisle News, a small newspaper in Ohio, was shot by a Clark County sheriff's deputy who was performing a traffic stop after the deputy apparently mistook his camera for a weapon, the newspaper said Tuesday. But the photographer isn't interested in seeing the deputy punished.

Photographer Andy Grimm left the office Monday to shoot lightning when he saw deputy Jake Shaw performing a traffic stop in New Carlisle, The New Carlisle News reported. Grimm got out of his Jeep to take pictures of the traffic stop and started setting up his tripod and camera when he was shot in the side. The shooting happened about 10:15 p.m., according to the sheriff's office.

"I turned around toward the cars and then 'pop, pop,'" Grimm said in the newspaper's story. (For more information on the photographer shooting and other Ohio stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Shaw was placed on administrative leave, the sheriff's office said Tuesday. The deputy will attend a "critical incident debriefing." The agency on Wednesday planned to release records and body camera footage of the shooting.

"Our hearts and prayers are with Mr. Grimm as he recovers and with Deputy Jake Shaw and we ask the community to keep both of them in your hearts and prayers as well," Maj. Andy Reynolds of the sheriff's office said in a statement.

An update on the news organization's Facebook page says Grimm is "is very sore but otherwise is doing fine" after surgery and doesn't want Shaw to lose his job.

"This is a small town. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody looks out for one another," Dale Grimm, Grimm's father and the publisher of the weekly paper along with two others, said in a phone interview Tuesday morning.

Dale Grimm said it's not clear what the deputy was thinking.

The case has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. At the request of the Clark County prosecutor's office, prosecutors from the Attorney General's office will handle the case.

It's not uncommon for local prosecutors to make such a request, especially in communities where prosecutors and sheriff's office authorities work closely together.

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, Associated Press

Image via Shutterstock