Friendswood Officer Who Shot Theft Suspect Had Drawn, Then Holstered Taser Before Shooting

FRIENDSWOOD, TX -- A Friendswood police officer who fatally shot a man suspected of stealing beer from a convenience store in November reportedly had his Taser out and unholstered before he shot the man with his service weapon.

Toby Cummins, 55, was killed by Officer Bradley Rusk on Nov. 29 after Rusk claimed that Cummins threatened him with a box cutter.

Rusk was dispatched to the 100 block of South Friendswood Drive around 3:10 p.m., on Nov. 29 after police received a call that a man had taken beer from a nearby convenience store without paying.

Rusk arrived and confronted Cummins, who then allegedly made slashing motions with a box cutter toward Rusk and lunged at him, Friendswood Police spokeswoman Lisa Price told the Houston Chronicle.

Melissa Hamilton, a visiting criminal law scholar at the University of Houston, said law enforcement officers aren’t obligated to use a minimal amount of force if their life is threatened, and that some officers won’t use a Taser because the weapon may not be enough to stop an attack.

Hamilton added that Cummins behavior suggests that this was a scenario known as suicide by cop, where someone who is suicidal and wants to take his or her own life attracts the attention of police in hopes of being shot.

Meanwhile, the information about Rusk first drawing his Taser was not in the report, but was shared by investigators with the Cummins family is still trying to come to grips with what happened last month.

The Friendswood Police Department has refused to release video from five officer body cameras and 20 dashboard cameras that recorded the shooting scene.

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