Basketball Coach Bob Knight Exonerated in Hunting Incident
[Guest post by DRJ]
A Lubbock, Texas, man’s claim that Texas Tech basketball Coach Bob Knight intentionally shot at him, hitting him in the back, was declared unfounded by the Lubbock police department:
“Lubbock police say a claim made by a south Lubbock man that Texas Tech coach Bob Knight shot at him during a hunting outing is unfounded.
James Simpson, 51, said he believes Knight or a member of his hunting party shot at him after he told them to stop hunting dove near his property near south University Avenue Oct. 21. Simpson said bird shot struck his residence while he was cleaning his pool, and he was later shot in the back and neck after he confronted Knight.”
The hunting party, which was in an open field next to Simpson’s house, included PGA golfer Larry Ziegler and a Texas Tech booster:
“Simpson lives inside the Lubbock city limits, but adjacent to a field were it’s legal to hunt. Simpson said he told Knight and other hunters to stop shooting so close to his house, and as he walked away, two more shots were fired in his direction, striking him in the back.
“It scared the hell out of me,” said Simpson, who filed a complaint with police two days later but met with investigators for the first time Tuesday. “I couldn’t work for two days. He shot me on purpose.”
Knight told The Associated Press Simpson’s claims were “ridiculous” but declined to comment further because he didn’t want to give the press and other media outlets more to report, his attorney said. But two others who were hunting with Knight that day – Tech athletic booster Bob Curtis and former PGA golfer Larry Ziegler – refuted Simpson’s claims. “If he said someone shot at him, that’s a joke,” Ziegler said. “That didn’t happen.”
Said Curtis: “If anybody shot over there, it was probably me. If anybody had done it.”
A local station reports that Simpson has a home video from that day:
“Just to summarize: no pellets, no injuries, no property damage and no access to the video tape while the case was being investigated. Police closed the case and no charges will be filed.
Meanwhile the video taped argument between Simpson and Knight sheds some light on what might have happened. First it shows that Knight was pretty well restrained. There was some yelling back & forth but Knight never used any foul language… not even a single cuss word.
Here is part of the Simpson tape as played during our simulcast of News Channel 11:
Simpson: “Move down. You’re too close to my house. Pellets fell on my house.”
Knight: “I didn’t shoot once in that direction.”
Simpson: “Pellets fell on my house. You’re the two. I’m filming you.”
Knight: “You do whatever you want.”
Simpson: “I’m filming you, Bob. I told you move down farther where the pellets don’t land at my house.”
Knight: “I didn’t shoot at your house.”
Simpson: “Bob, I’m telling you now the pellets landed in my swimming pool.”
Knight: “I didn’t shoot at it. I can’t help that.”
Simpson: “I’m asking you to move down farther.”
Later in the tape, Knight’s hunting partner Bob Curtis is heard saying he might have been the guy who shot too close to Simpson’s house. But Simpson ignores Curtis and continues to yell at Bob Knight.”
Simpson has a history of run-ins with the police department:
“It’s not like Mr. Simpson is a complete stranger to police. He has a lengthy history with the department. In some cases he claims to be the victim of harassment, retaliation and death threats. But in at least one case, Mr. Simpson went to jail on accusations of aggravated assault. We were not able to locate the police report on that aggravated assault case from the Lubbock police department web site overnight. So, we’ll try again today during daylight hours, hopefully with a little help from the officer assigned to media relations.”
I bet a lot of people would be surprised that there are places where you can hunt inside the city limits. Texas Senate Bill 734 that became effective 9/1/2006 generally allows property owners to permit hunting on annexed private property of a minimum 10 acres (shotguns) or 50 acres (rifles and pistols) within the city limits.
— DRJ