Footage released of Glendale police shooting that killed 15-year-old boy
Authorities have released footage from a Glendale police shooting that killed 15-year-old Juan Carlos Bojorquez on July 6.
According to Glendale Police public information officer Randy Stewart, officers found Bojorquez in a stolen car at an apartment parking lot near North 63rd Avenue and West Citrus Way just before 2 p.m.
Police said that there was a 16-year-old boy in the car as well.
Officials said that police confronted Bojorquez and the juvenile told them that he had a gun with him inside of the car. When officers tried to remove him from the car, Bojorquez reached for the weapon, prompting an officer to shoot at Bojorquez, police said.
The officers then administered life-saving aid to the 15-year-old before he was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead, according to authorities.
The 16-year-old passenger was also questioned and released following the incident, authorities said.
The incident will undergo an internal and criminal review which will be sent to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. They Attorney's Office will then send its own report to the Glendale Police Department, according to Glendale Police Communications Manager Jose Santiago.
A resistance board made up of subject matter experts and members of the community will then be convened to determine if the use of force was within policy, Santiago said.
What the footage shows
Stewart, a PIO for Glendale Police Department, noted that it was not until after the officer fired his weapon that a canine officer who was assisting turned on his bodycam to start recording. It is unclear whether the officer who fired shots had worn bodycam that was filming.
According to Stewart, investigators took "extensive steps" to locate any other videos related to the incident but were unable to find any. A reporter with The Arizona Republic filed a public records request with the Glendale Police Department for the unredacted version of the footage.
Several pictures in the critical incident video reveal a blue-painted handgun in a compartment below the car's dashboard.
Once the video recording begins, the juvenile can be seen as he is thrown out of the car and onto the ground next to the parking space.
The audio recording does not begin until shortly thereafter, when an officer can be heard shouting "stay there, stay there" at the juvenile. The officer asks if the gun is on Bojorquez, to which another replies "I don't know, he was reaching."
Toward the end of the recording, the 15-year-old is lying flat against the parking lot pavement as at least one officer begins administering life-saving aid.
Reach the reporter Jeremy Yurow at Jyurow@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bodycam footage shows Glendale police shoot, kill 15-year-old boy
