'We deserve answers': Family of boy fatally shot by Glendale police calls for accountability

The family of a boy who was fatally shot by police gathered outside Glendale City Council Chambers on Thursday calling for answers on what led to his death.

Juan Carlos Bojorquez, 15, died July 6 at a hospital after being pulled over in a vehicle by Glendale police near 63rd Avenue and West Citrus Way.

In a news conference that same day, the Glendale Police Department said Bojorquez had told them he had a gun with him and proceeded to reach for it after being told not to. Officers said a struggle ensued.

Maria Martinez, Bojorquez's aunt whom he lived with, spoke at the family's news conference as she was surrounded by about 30 people holding signs bearing photos of the late teen.

"We deserve answers," Martinez said. "My family is struggling to pick up the pieces of our broken hearts."

Martinez said the family could only achieve complete closure until it receives the full police report and all unredacted camera footage.

Glendale Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Randy Stewart said detectives stopped the teen and a 16-year-old after they were located in a vehicle that was suspected to be stolen.

An undercover officer not wearing a body camera shot Bojorquez, according to Stewart. It was unclear how many times he was shot.

Emergency crews performed CPR on Bojorquez before he died at a local hospital, police said.

A weapon was found inside the vehicle, according to police. The other teen was taken into custody without incident, Stewart said.

"We respect the right of the family of Juan Carlos Borjorquez to speak out," said a Thursday afternoon statement from the Glendale Police Department. "The case involving Juan Carlos Borjorquez remains under investigation. The facts remain that Borjorquez was an armed juvenile inside a stolen vehicle and was reaching toward a weapon at the time of the incident."

In a video released last month, Glendale police showed a photo of a blue-painted handgun found in the vehicle Bojorquez was pulled over in. In the video, Stewart, the department spokesman, said no audio was initially picked up on body camera footage when Bojorquez was shot.

In the redacted footage, Bojorquez can be seen on the floor as an officer falls to the ground.

"Stay there. Stay there," someone is heard saying on the video, followed by someone asking, "Is the gun on him? Is the gun on him?"

Someone is then heard responding, "I don't know. He was reaching."

Viri Hernandez, the executive director of Poder in Action, a Phoenix-based social justice organization, said the Police Department has not released unredacted body camera footage and alleged the agency released some video of the shooting on Facebook before notifying the family about it.

"Since then, the department has lied, has changed their stories multiple times, has continued to treat the families without humanity. They took a boy's life. There was no reason this kid, 140 pounds with his hands up, should have been killed," Hernandez said. "Kids have the right to make mistakes and to learn from them. It's not the Police Department's job to be the judge, the jury and executioner."

The Buckeye Police Department is carrying out an independent investigation into the shooting. Upon its completion, the department said on Thursday, the investigation will be forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review.

When asked whether Bojorquez had his hands up before being shot and whether police seized phones of witnesses filming the shooting, as alleged at Thursday's news conference, the Buckeye Police Department said no records will be released until the investigation's completion.

The officer who carried out the shooting is not on suspended pay leave, according to the Glendale Police Department. The department did not immediately respond to whether the officer remains employed.

Incoming state Sen. Anna Hernandez (D-District 24) urged officials to move on the requests of Bojorquez's family.

"We see time and time again when law enforcement uses every single tactic in the book to block authority, block transparency, block communication with the families of the people they kill," Hernandez said. "I call on all these elected officials to do their job and to provide the answers to this family that is suffering and that continuously is mistreated after their child was killed."

Metro Phoenix Black Lives Matter member Keisha Acton said the police force was "a group of thugs" and described Bojorquez and his family as "victims of the rampant police violence in Arizona."

Data compiled by The Arizona Republic shows as of Oct. 8 there have been at least 72 police shootings in 2022 across the state with 38 of those being fatal. Two shootings have been in Glendale, the data shows.

"My brother deserved to graduate high school. My brother deserved to be the best man at my wedding," said Bojorquez's 16-year-old brother, Jose.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on Twitter @jrgzztx. Reach the reporter at bmunozmurguia@arizonarepublic.com. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family of boy fatally shot by Glendale police calls for accountability