GLENDALE, Ariz — Saturday afternoon Katie Crockett and her son Robert were enjoying a lunch date at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale.
“We went to check out the Sugar Factory, and then he showed me all of the area. I had never been before,” she said. The mother and son discussed going to church on Sunday, but they wouldn’t make it.
That was the last time she saw him alive.
“I got a call last night at 10 o’clock from my daughter saying that there was a police altercation and come over to Levi’s house,” she says.
She would later learn he was dead, killed at the hands of Phoenix Police.
“They’ve could’ve handled this whole thing a different way,” says Katie.
Man shot and killed by Phoenix police
“What happened to rubber bullets? What happened to stun guns? Were those not options, Katie asked.
Saturday evening around 6:30 Robert Crockett, 26, allegedly carjacked a rideshare worker at gunpoint near 85th Avenue and Indian School in Phoenix, police claimed.
Through GPS, officers tracked the car to a home he was living at near 91st and Glendale Avenues in Glendale.
When police arrived, they were able to escort a woman out of the home, then made contact to get Robert out as well.
“The suspect ended up coming out of the house. He contacted the officers from a distance away. While he was in the driveway of the residence. It was at this time he removed a handgun from his possession, and pointed it at multiple officers and that’s when the officer-involved shooting occurred,” said Sgt. Brian Bower with Phoenix Police.
Bower said Robert died at the scene. He said the smell of propane delayed first responders from rendering aid after the shooting.
Robert, who lost his left arm in a car accident back in 2011, struggled with mental health and substance abuse according to his mother, who questioned why officers had to use that level of force.
“What happened to rubber bullets? What happened to the stun gun? Why was that not an option? He has one arm and weighs 150 pounds. Three police officers opened fire on him,” she said.
Non-lethal weapons were available at the scene at the time, police said.
“As far as how many were utilized and at what point they were utilized during this encounter is still under investigation," said Bower.
Family members said while Robert wasn’t perfect, they say he wasn’t violent, and never knew about him having a gun.
As she prepares to bury a son for a second time, Katie hopes to get more clarity into the investigation and shooting that took Robert, while also remembering his generous spirit.
"He just loved family. He had his problem he really did. He would go without for you to have."
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