Officer involved in third on-duty shooting

Jen Lawson

Friday, Dec. 19, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

A Metro police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man Tuesday was involved in two nonfatal shootings in 2000 and 2001.

Sgt. Clint Robison, a 19-year veteran of Metro, was justified in those shootings, according to a panel's review of the cases.

Robison works in the repeat offender program, a team of officers which investigates the area's most serious career criminals, so he has more contact with dangerous people than other officers, Sheriff Bill Young said.

"He's one of those workers who is always at the point of the spear where the bad guys are," Young said. And Robison's work on the repeat offender program "increases his exposure to the real bad guys."

In January 2000, Robison, 44, fired two shotgun blasts at a gunman who was pistol-whipping a driver of a coin truck during an attempted robbery.

The shots missed the gunman but hit the robbers' car, and police took the three suspects into custody. Metro's use-of-force board found Robinson's actions were justified.

The following year, in November 2001, Robison was involved in a massive gunfight during which a suspect was shot 22 times.

Harry Kondiles, 37, who had several warrants for his arrest, fired shots at police during a high-speed chase and fired more shots after he crashed his car into a wall.

In response, Robison and 13 other officers fired more than 100 shots at Kondiles. He suffered shots mostly to his arms and legs and later recovered. No officers were injured.

A coroner's inquest jury will decide if Robison's actions in the latest shooting were justified. The inquest has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 30.

"Clint Robison is a very, very good police officer," Young said. "He's a hard-nosed cop who has never shied away from (dangerous) assignments."

The shooting will also be reviewed by Metro's use-of-force board, made up of four citizens and three officers. The board looks at officers' actions when someone is killed or hurt by an officer and whenever an officer fires a gun at a citizen. The board determines whether the officers acted within department guidelines.