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A police officer who fatally shot a man during a routine traffic stop gave a chilling five-word statement to his colleague, investigators say.
On September 14, 2022, Timothy Michael Randall was headed home when he was pulled over by Sgt. Shane Iversen of Rusk County Sheriff’s Office at 12.30am in Texas.
The 29-year-old construction worker had been on the phone to his mom to tell her he was only going to be a few minutes, but ended the call when the cop approached.
Iversen told Randall that he had run a stop sign, as corroborated by police dash cam footage, reports NBC News.
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But Randall denied doing so, saying he came to a 'complete stop' at the sign and was ordered out of the car by the officer on a rural country road two hours east of Dallas.
The routine traffic stop then quickly descended into chaos which resulted in the man dying on the side of the road from a gunshot wound.
However, shortly after the incident, Iversen, then 57, told a colleague in harrowing audio footage from his police radio that he had gunned the man down.
In the chilling five-word statement, he said: "I just smoked a dude," in a quiet voice.
The incident unfolded when Randall reportedly put his wallet in his back pocket and appeared to adjust his waistband when exciting the vehicle, a move which Iversen later told investigators he thought was a 'furtive gesture' that he might have a weapon.
Iversen told him to put his hands behind his back to which Randall compiled while saying: "I don't have anything on me."
"Officer, please, can you tell me what I’m under arrest for?” Randall then asked.
Yet, Iversen didn't appear to reply and instead slammed Randall down to the floor while he pleaded with the officer.
A struggle then ensued, which saw Iversen shove Randall to the ground a second time.
Yet, the momentum of the fall saw Randall to spring to his feet.
As Randall attempted to run away, the cop pulled his service weapon and shot him in the chest.
Randall collapsed to the ground and despite Iversen attempting medical aid, he died on the pavement.
It was later revealed the single bullet had gone through his ribs, lungs and heart.
His grief-stricken mom, Wendy Tippitt, spent weeks searching for answers about why her son never returned home and questioned how he ended up dead after a regular traffic stop.
Then just months after the fatal shooting, a jury ruled it had chosen not to indict Iversen for killing an unarmed man.
It was only last summer that the mom saw for the first time her son's final moments in the dashcam footage, nearly two years after the incident, after she filed a federal lawsuit.
Tippitt said: "The only person that was attacking anybody was Sgt. Iversen attacking my son."
The cop, who had been working as an officer for 13 years in Dallas and Rusk County, retired after the shooting and fought in court to keep the footage under wraps.
He had also told investigators he was on high alert given that the area Randall was driving in was known for drug trafficking and that he thought he had a gun on him.
"I don’t want to be caught on my knees with this active guy with a weapon in his waistband,” Iversen said. “At that point ... survival instinct kicked in, and I drew and fired one round at him.”
The weapon Iversen feared allegedly turned out to be a glasses case with a meth pipe inside.