Body camera and surveillance footage has been released showing a man wildly attacking an Arizona police officer, prompting the officer to shoot the man.
The incident occurred outside a Phoenix bus station on March 8. The man was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital, though the officer was not hurt, local outlet Arizona’s Family reported.
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The police officer was responding to an early morning report of a man disturbing customers at the bus station. The man had also called 911 and said he wanted to turn himself in for “rape,” Arizona’s Family reported, though he has not yet been linked to any crime prior to this incident.
Taking the man outside, the officer asked the man to quit stepping closer to him, according to the body camera footage. The man pushed the officer, and the officer tased him, sending him to the ground.
But when the officer attempted to place the man in custody, the man regained his strength, kicked at the officer, and screamed as he chased him into the parking lot. The officer shot his pistol twice at the man, and he fell again to the ground, the footage shows.
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The incident was the fourth officer-involved shooting in Phoenix over a five-day timespan, according to Arizona’s Family. Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Melissa Soliz said the trend was “concerning.”
“Our officers respond to calls every day, all day that can potentially end up in officer-involved shootings or violence,” Soliz said.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell tied the trend to illegal gun possession.
“Anecdotally, what we are seeing is that there is a very high correlation between felons who were illegally in possession of firearms and those that later involved in shootouts with police,” she said.
