Edited bodycam footage shows man shot, killed by Phoenix police in apartment complex
On Friday, Phoenix Police released an edited video of an April 1 shooting in which a man was killed by police after they believed he tried to break into an apartment in north Phoenix.
The critical incident briefing video has excerpts from the 911 call police received as well as edited body camera footage from three out of the four officers who responded.
According to Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Philip Krynsky, officers initially responded to a fight call just after 7 p.m. at an apartment complex near 14th Street and Bell Road.
Krynsky said officers found a man in his late 70s who wanted to get belongings from an apartment that wasn't his, but he agreed to leave after no one answered the door.
Just before 8:30 p.m., a woman at the same address called the police saying she was hiding in her bathroom from a man with a gun who had broken her bedroom window, Krynsky said.
Phone call fragments in the video show the woman telling the 911 operator that she knew the man's name and that he suffered from "bipolar schizophrenia."
Officers went back to the location and found the same man from the first call in the property's parking lot, police said.
Body camera footage showed police commanding the man to put his hands up and step out to the middle of the parking lot where there were no cars.
Officers then pointed their guns and pepper ball launchers at the man and commanded him to lie on the ground.
The man then pulled out an object from his waist. The object cannot be clearly identified in the video.
"Don't! Don't!" an officer yelled while another shot pepper balls at the man. According to police, pepper ball launchers are tools that confuse and cause pain to the target.
Police commanded the man to drop the gun multiple times and continued to shoot pepper balls.
"Drop it! Now!," an officer yelled. The man pointed the object up and answered "No, I'm not!"
The man then fired the gun into the air, and two officers began shooting at the man.
The man fell and police commanded him not to move. Police body camera footage did not show what happened after.
Krynsky said officers took the gun away from him and gave the man first aid treatment until firefighters arrived, but they pronounced the man dead at the scene, police said.
Phoenix police said the officers involved had been at the police department for 13, six and two years.
Neither police officers nor other people were injured during the shooting.
Police said the shooting was under an internal investigation that will be reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bodycam footage shows shooting of man killed by Phoenix police
