Sandy MalonePhoenix, AZ – Phoenix police have released bodycam and security videos from an officer-involved shooting in March that occurred after a suspect attacked the officer multiple times at a bus station (video below).
The incident began just before 5 a.m. on March 8 when the suspect called 911 from the Tufesa bus depot near 27th Avenue and McDowell Road and told the dispatcher that he wanted to turn himself in for “rape,” KTVK reported.
Phoenix Police Sergeant Melissa Soliz said that around the same time, dispatchers received other calls about the suspect who was allegedly acting erratically and bothering people in the bus terminal.
The first police officer who responded to the scene got there at about 5 a.m. and asked the suspect to go outside with him to talk, the video showed.
When they got outside, the officer asked the suspect, who was wearing a blue blazer, what was going on and the man started to approach him as he began talking.
“Well, I’m here because um,” the suspect began, taking a step toward the officer.
That’s when the officer interrupted him, the video showed.
“Stop going closer to me,” the officer told the suspect.
The suspect stood in front of him with his hands clasped for a few seconds then suddenly took a step forward and shoved the officer, the video showed.
The officer pushed the suspect off him and drew his Taser.
“Watch out, dude,” the officer told the suspect calmly.
When the suspect took a step toward him, bodycam video showed he deployed his Taser and took the man to the ground.
Then he went and began to handcuff the suspect.
But the video showed the suspect flipped over and kicked the officer.
The officer backed up and dropped his Taser as the man got up from the ground and charged at him, the video showed.
Bodycam and surveillance videos from above showed the officer repeatedly attempted to back away from the suspect before he drew his duty weapon and opened fire on the man who continued to charge him.
The suspect fell to the ground on his back after he was shot, the video showed.
He was transported to the hospital with serious wounds, KTVK reported.
The officer who shot the suspect is assigned to the Maryvale Estrella Mountain Precinct.
Phoenix police said the officer joined the department six years ago, according to KTVK.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content:
Man attacks Phoenix police officer, gets shot. pic.twitter.com/AtSUunKDhj
— Detect Fights 💕 (@detectfights) March 25, 2023
Holly Matkin
