A Birmingham, Ala. police officer hesitated to shoot a suspect who allegedly took the officer's gun and pistol-whipped him with it, because he feared being in the media spotlight, The Blaze.com reports.

The site says that instead of helping, bystanders took video of the incident and praised the attack on the officer.

“A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what’s going on in the media… I hesitated because I didn’t want to be in the media like I am right now,” he said, according to the Blaze.

The officer was knocked unconscious, and his supervisors say he is lucky he wasn't killed.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com