The tragic incident that unfolded in late August involving the death of a 77-year-old man at the hands of a Guadalupe County sheriff's deputy has culminated in a family’s plea for improved training procedures within the sheriff's department. Kenneth Grimm, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, who also served as a Texas Lutheran University employee, was experiencing an episode caused by dementia when he was shot and killed on August 27.
As reported by KSAT, the family has expressed their dismay, noting that Grimm suffered from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases apart from dementia and was "slow moving and very thin." According to them, the Guadalupe County sheriff’s deputy who responded to the family's 911 call was informed of Grimm's medical conditions, however, minutes later the situation took a fatal turn. Civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen has emphasized the absence of a taser at the scene, suggesting that the outcome might have been different if the deputy had one.
Sharing the escalating concern, Byron Grimm and his fiancé, Lorie Chupp, believe there could have been alternative measures if there had been proper training, or if the deputies were equipped with tasers. "We looked at the fact that there are so many other things that could have been done if Guadalupe had had the better training that they had had the tasers, had any other option other than shoot first and ask questions later,” Chupp told News 4 San Antonio.
Sheriff Arnold Zwicke responded to the incident, asserting that the county indeed exceeds state requirements for mental health and Alzheimer's training. "When someone comes at you with a knife, we're always trained to be ready for that threat," Zwicke stated, referencing the critical moment that prompted the deputy's response. It should be noted, that the deputy involved, with under four months of service, has been on administrative leave since the shooting and was cleared by a grand jury. This deputy is expected to return to duty soon, according to News 4 San Antonio.
The Grimm family is calling for better training and access to body camera footage from the incident. Lawyer Kallinen criticized the sheriff's office for refusing to release the footage, and the Guadalupe County District Attorney's Office has not yet commented on any grand jury proceedings.
