PHOENIX — Phoenix police described the moment as a "First Amendment demonstration" on the night of July 4. It was a demonstration that escalated into fights and a fatal shooting.
That night, 51-year-old Paul Franco was shot and killed in the parking lot of his apartment complex. 12News spoke with Franco's family, as well as an ally of the group demonstrating near Steele Indian School Park where the Fabulous Phoenix Fourth firework show was happening.
Both people said that the demonstration was actually a pro-Palestine protest and rally and that it was a protestor who fired the shots. A verbal altercation between Franco and the people at the rally started at the park and made its way a few blocks north to the Lex on Central — Franco's apartment complex.
The protestors were shouting from outside the walls of the apartment complex. Franco's girlfriend said she and Franco began throwing eggs at the protestors.
The protestors then followed a car inside the closed gates of the apartment complex and more verbal sparring between Franco and the protestors ensued. What happens next is still unknown.
Phoenix police said Franco was shot and killed by one of the protestors, who has made a self-defense claim for why they shot and killed him. Franco's girlfriend, who does not wish to be named, said he was coming to her aid when she was being assaulted by multiple protestors.
At that point, he was shot and fired his weapon multiple times after being shot. Franco's girlfriend said the self-defense claim is not a valid reason for her boyfriend dying on the street of his apartment complex parking lot.
12News spoke with a nearby business that has surveillance video of the incident, which they have handed over to Phoenix Police. They would not share it with 12News.
Phoenix police would not confirm any of the aforementioned information from people on the scene. Their investigation, including reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses, continues. When it concludes, a decision to charge the Pro-Palestinian protestor will come from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
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