Officer: 'I wanted to be absolutely sure before I used deadly force'
Kidder says relative gave him body camera to use at work after Ferguson
Officer Jesse Kidder has only been on the New Richmond police force for a year, but he did two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine and he's a Purple Heart recipient.
Still, he said he's never been confronted the way he was on Thursday.
"Law enforcement officers all across the nation have to deal with split-second decisions that mean life or death. I wanted to be absolutely sure before I used deadly force," said Kidder.
It's easier said than done, and that has never been clearer than through the lens of Kidder's body camera, when the homicide suspect he was following on Thursday got out of his car and charged.
"He jumped out and he sprinted towards me. I had my firearm already drawn on me, and I told him to put his hands up in the air and he was screaming as he was yelling, 'Shoot me, shoot me'," Kidder said.
Dispatchers had told Kidder the suspect may threaten suicide by cop and that he could have a gun under his seat, but Kidder relied on his own split-second observations to know what to do.
"So he's got his arms at his side while he's running at me and that's the first thing I noticed," Kidder said as he watched the video. "He put his hand in his pocket there, so my eyes are watching that hand right now and nothing else."
Knowing backup was coming, Kidder back-pedaled while the suspect continued to insist Kidder shoot him.
"I was trying to open a dialogue with him. 'I don't want to shoot you, get on the ground,' but he wasn't having it. He kept repeating, 'Shoot me.' At one point, he said 'Shoot me or I'll shoot you,'" Kidder said.
Then, the suspect charged at Kidder again. Kidder tripped and fell backwards.
"He got towards my face right as I lost balance," Kidder said. "I'm thinking, at this point, that if he goes into attack me, that I'll have to use deadly force to defend myself."
Just in time, backup arrived, and the suspect surrendered.
"For him to make the judgment call that he did shows great restraint and maturity," said New Richmond Police Chief Randy Harvey. "This video footage, it eliminated all doubt that this officer would have been justified if in fact it came to a shooting."
Kidder said one of his relatives gave him the body camera to use at work after what happened in Ferguson. Harvey said he's hoping to find funding to get them for the rest of his officers.