The Phoenix Police Department has released footage concerning an officer-involved shooting that happened earlier this month, on October 2, shedding light on the details of the highly charged event after a response to an armed robbery call escalated quickly; this footage can be disturbing to watch, and the department advises discretion for viewers.
The shooting took place outside a fast-food joint at 16th Street and Buckeye Road, where officers responded to a 911 alert about a man allegedly robbing a woman and possibly armed coming from worried bystanders inside the establishment, even as the restaurant brimmed with customers and employees going about their business, the man, fitting the description from dispatch, was spotted by the two officers as they arrived on the scene.
According to the official police briefing, the man initially complied with officers' demands to lie on the ground, but the situation took a sudden turn when he stood up and made a move towards the restaurant doors, prompting one officer to discharge their weapon.
The suspect, who was later found to be unarmed, received immediate medical attention from the officers involved until the Phoenix Fire Department arrived, subsequently admitting him to a nearby hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, where now, the downtown operations unit officer who has four years on the force is under both criminal investigation by the Department of Public Safety's Major Incident Division and an administrative review by the Phoenix Police itself, in the wide-spanning efforts to determine the alignment of the actions taken with departmental policies and laws, yet conclusions have not been reached as investigations remain ongoing.
Updates on this case will be forthcoming as the Maricopa County Attorney's Office is set to review the incident and more information becomes available through official channels.
