But we start here 1st at 5:00.
It's been two years to the day since
Concord police officer Jason Shuping
lost his life in the line of duty.
Police say a suspected car Jacker shot him.
He was just 25 years old and
had only been on the job for 18
months when all of this happened.
His partner, officer Caleb Robinson,
was also wounded by gunfire that night.
And now Robinson is back on the job,
still working in law enforcement
with a different agency.
He sat down with our Chloe Lechner to.
Reflect on what today means
to him and what life has been
like since that tragic day.
Chloe joining us live now from
the Concord Police Department.
What was today's conversation like?
Haven Asset and Fred yeah,
behind me you can see the memorial
that was dedicated to officers
shooting exactly a year ago.
They just turned those blue lights
on within the last few minutes.
It's a day that absolutely
changed this community,
that changed Caleb Robinson's
life to say the least.
But he says today should be about
officer shooting and ensuring
that his legacy lives on.
It was an ordinary night
roll call and then hit the streets patrolling
until it wasn't until 11.
Gunshot wound, December 16th, 2020.
Changed everything for Caleb Robinson.
I remember seeing the gun and
hearing the shots and then.
It all kind of went went black.
He now works as a special
agent with the North Carolina
State Bureau of investigations,
but at the time he was a Concord police
officer working alongside Officer
Jason Shuping as they searched for
the suspect in a possible carjacking.
It was another officers call.
I was just assisting him.
We roll up on the car and nobody
else's radio call from another law
enforcement officer and we when we
got to sign that we saw the mail.
We were matched the description we
had gotten, he was heading towards.
At the back of the Sonic woman,
make contact with him.
Both were shot. In the
confrontation, Shuping was killed.
I remember seeing Jason had had gone down.
Still had a suspect that was.
Loose and he had already shot at officers
and I didn't know where he was at at
the where he had gone to at the time.
I went over to Jason. I knew, I mean.
There's a lot of unknown for
figuring out and trying to get
people trying to get help to us.
And Jason at that time was kind of my,
my priority. As I went over to him,
I was kind of trying to get him,
you know, respond to me, do something.
I mean, we're still in an active scene,
so we were still kind of dealing with that,
but doing as much as I could at the time.
Not knowing the extent of his
injuries or anything on on the scene,
I know I didn't really find that I was,
I was.
Struck until really after everybody
showed up and I kind of saw.
I turned around,
saw a hole in my handcuff pouch
and realized it was probably
a little more serious than.
When I initially felt
in the hours after it happened,
Chief Gary Gasik described Robinson
as standing, overshooting,
guarding and protecting him
saw one officer down.
In in obvious great condition.
And the other officer that was injured,
that was standing nearby
guarding or protecting that,
that injured officer,
they were not just partners
on the job, but friends.
They had gone to high school together
and worked side-by-side. Most shifts.
We eat dinner at the District
office about, about every night,
but just a very like whole genuine guy.
He never met a stranger.
He never, you know, I never
heard him talk bad about anybody.
He was just very he was everyone's friend.
Robinson knows he's lucky he
was able to return to the job
I thought it would be a disservice to.
Jason and and other guys,
if I just if I called it quits after
that and I wasn't going to let that
define my law enforcement career.
Robinson strives to be like Officer
Jason Shuping every day. He's
left an impact on everybody he's met.
I mean, if we had more officers like Jason,
the world would be a better place I
believe because that's one thing that.
I wish I could teach as to.
Give officers that kind of personality and
that and that way of being because he could.
He was just so understanding and would
work with people a lot more and I
think there's we need more of that.
Earlier this year Robinson and the
two other officers on that scene
received the Medal of Valor from
President Biden officer shootings
wife also accepted one on his behalf.
Live in Concord Chloe Lechner WCNC,
Charlotte. Hard to believe it's been two
years since that dark day for our community.
We are so grateful too for Robinson
for just sharing that message and
reminding us about what today is about.
So thank you.
Turning now to an update on North Lake Mall,
CMPD telling us that it has arrested
three people, including a teenager,
over yesterday's shooting at North Lake.
Police telling us that one man is now
facing attempted murder charges while the
two others are facing assault charges.
That shooting we told you before.