11/26/2007
Tennessee: Gunfire Blasts Red Light CameraKnoxville, Tennessee police accuse a man of blasting a red light camera with a .30-06 rifle.
A red light camera in Knoxville, Tennessee was riddled with bullets early yesterday. The ticketing device, located at the intersection near Broadway Street and Interstate 640, was struck by three bullets at around 2am, leaving the camera's lens shattered and incapable of ticketing. WATE-TV reports that police found Clifford E. Clark III, 47, in a minivan near the scene of the incident with a Ruger M77 Mark II .30-06 rifle. Clark was arrested and accused of felony vandalism for damaging the automated ticketing machine operated by Redflex, the Australian company that Knoxville hired to run the program.
Red light cameras are typically encased in "bullet resistant" housings that cannot stop a high-powered rifle round. The plating used on the red light camera increases the possibility of ricochet damage from small arms fire to nearby homes and businesses.