Spartanburg Deputy Shoots Black Man Multiple Times: Officer Claims Self Defense

 
Jennings Challenges the Police to Show the Video tape
The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office initially told usPaul Jennings tried to run over a deputy-- and that's when the deputy opened fire. But the driver says it didn't happen that way and is banking on dash-cam video to prove his case. Shot up--with bullet holes in his arms and a bullet lodged in his chest, Paul Jennings waited nearly 24 hours before checking himself in at a hospital. Partly, he says, because we didn't hear his side of the story. He said, "that’s right, I'm bleeding, I was upset. I'm not going to say I was perfect in the situation but to be shot at like a dog, now that was wrong." On Thursday night, Sheriff's Deputies tell us Jennings continued driving through a safety checkpoint-- triggering a small chase that ended in gunfire and could have ended in death. Sheriff Chuch Wright/Spartanburg County: "State law says when a deputy motions for you to stop, you stop, whether you're at a checkpoint or not. And that was happening and he didn't stop." Jennings admits he should have stopped sooner, once the blue lights were on, but he says the Sheriff's Office should admit that he also didn't shift his car out of park until the deputy started shooting at him. Jennings: "And then he went to the windshield with the gun. I said ok.....then 'bang', 'bang', 'bang'. I backed up. That’s when I left and when I put my hand on at the switch. Then he shot at me 3 times...the only reason I backed up and got away was when I got shot. They will not show that tape; the tape in the patrol car." So far, no charges have been filed against Jennings. [MORE]