Phoenix police release footage of officers shooting during standoff with armed man
Phoenix police released a critical incident video that showed edited clips of body-camera footage involving a police shooting that occurred on May 24 near 32nd Street and Union Hills Drive.
Sgt. Andy Williams, a department spokesperson who narrates the video, said a community member flagged down a nearby police sergeant about a man attempting to steal a vehicle about 3 p.m.
According to Williams, the sergeant spotted the man and followed him as he fled. As the sergeant followed the man, police received a 911 call from a woman claiming a man attempted to steal her truck while she was inside it.
Police played a portion of the 911 call, during which the woman said the man told her he had weapons but she didn't believe that was true.
Footage from the sergeant's body camera shows the sergeant exiting his vehicle and pointing a weapon at the man while ordering him to get on the ground. The man seems to ignore the sergeant and continues fleeing on foot, causing the sergeant to get back in his vehicle and follow the man.
Williams said the sergeant called for backup and established a perimeter with other officers after the man climbed over a fence in a residential area. Officers and K-9 units searched through various yards for the man when he shot at them about 4 p.m.
Body-camera footage shows a handful of officers in a yard when multiple gunshots can be heard. Williams said the shots only came from the suspect during that video clip.
Police found the man and said he had broken into an unoccupied home. Williams said the man shot multiple vehicles that officers were using as cover. One officer returned fire using a rifle but didn't strike him.
Body-camera footage from the officer who returned fire shows him firing nearly a dozen times behind a white GMC Sierra pickup truck. Williams said the officer and two sergeants then used cover fire to suppress the man while the officer and one of the sergeants moved to another vehicle parked farther away from the home.
Williams also showed body-camera footage from the two sergeants who also provided cover fire with their handguns. One sergeant stayed behind the pickup truck.
Williams said patrol officers cordoned off the area and evacuated nearby residents or had them take shelter in their homes. Members of Phoenix police's Special Assignment Unit arrived in armored vehicles and used a PA system to negotiate with the man. Williams said SAU members also used tear gas to avoid another shootout with the man.
Williams said the man exited the residence about three hours after the initial shooting. Footage shows the man on the home's first story roof as he climbs down a ladder police offered before taking him into custody.
The man was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries before being booked into jail on multiple charges, which include 17 counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and residential burglary.
Police did not identify the man as of Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives recovered what appeared to be two rifles, a shotgun and a handgun, which police say the suspect used, Williams said.
Williams said the officer who fired the rifle is a four-year veteran with the department while the two sergeants who fired their handguns were 13- and 32-year veterans with the department.
The department launched a criminal and internal investigation into the shooting as is standard protocol when police fire their weapons.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police release footage of shooting in standoff with armed man
