The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office declined a BPR request for body camera footage from a December 2022 incidentwhere a Murphy man was shot at his home.
Law enforcement from the Sheriff's Office and the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT team went to the home of Jason Kloepfer following a 911 call.
According to the initial police account, Kloepfer confronted officers, but private security footage showed Kloepfer and his wife awakened by the SWAT team. The video showed Kloepfer following their commands at the door, and he is shot a few seconds later.
Holly Kays, reporter for the Smokey Mountain News, spoke with BPR's Lilly Knoepp about the latest.
All of the charges against Kloepfer were dismissed in early March, Kays said. Later in March, District attorney Ashley Welch who had charged Kloepfer with two misdemeanors recused herself from the case as she said she may be a witness. Welch talked with Sheriff's deputies about the incident.
Tribal Police Chief Carla Neadeau declined to comment on the incident. In early April, Neadeau proposed a change to the Tribal policy on release of all video footage to limit it only to instances where it is subpoenaed, Kays said.
Tribal Council voted to exempt police video footage from the Tribe's public records law and the footage would only be available by subpoena.
Chief Richard Sneed has 30 days from the vote to sign the measure into action, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature, Kays said.
