Local
Phoenix police say man fatally shot in south Phoenix held BB gun
Body-camera footage released Oct. 23 shows officers confronting a man at an apartment complex near Central and Southern avenues before two officers fired. Police say the man’s gun was a BB gun and that he had placed the 911 call that brought officers there.
Phoenix police say a man who died after officers shot him at a south Phoenix apartment complex on Oct. 10 was holding a BB gun, not a conventional firearm. His name has not been released.
The department released body-camera footage and a briefing about the shooting on Friday, Oct. 23. Officers had responded to a 911 call reporting a man walking around the complex near Central and Southern avenues with a gun and a knife while mumbling to himself.
The footage shows the man leaving an apartment while holding the objects. Officers repeatedly tell him to raise his hands and drop the gun. They then deploy a PepperBall launcher, a less-lethal weapon, according to the police account.
Police say the man raised the gun and pointed it toward officers, prompting one officer to fire a rifle. After the man fell, police say, he raised the gun again and a second officer fired. Officers gave him aid before Phoenix Fire Department personnel took him to a hospital, where he later died.
Sgt. Chris Berrelleza said in the department’s briefing that investigators determined the gun was a BB gun. Investigators also found a written statement in the man’s apartment and determined he had made the 911 call, Berrelleza said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the shooting, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will review the findings. Phoenix police are conducting a separate administrative review. The two officers, both assigned to the South Mountain Precinct, have about two and five years of service, respectively.