The moment a suspect was shot by a Phoenix cop was captured on camera Tuesday morning.
“Fools running from the cops and the cop's negotiating with him,” the man behind the camera said. “Got a bloody face and everything. I don’t know what's going on.”
Then, you hear the pop from the gun.
The shocking video captured the moment a trespassing suspect was shot by a Phoenix cop during morning rush hour Tuesday. He died hours later at a hospital.
Police said the suspect brandished an open handcuff hanging from his wrist. He had pulled away from officers when they tried to arrest him.
“That instrument is a solid piece of metal, can be utilized to hurt, cause physical injury,” a Phoenix PD spokesperson said.
The bystander’s video may be the only video evidence available, as the officer lost his body camera during the scuffle.
Team 12’s Brahm Resnik showed the video to Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams who said she would not comment on whether the shooting was justified or not.
She did, however, thank the community for bringing the video to their attention. Chief Williams also offered more details on why the officer may have felt threatened enough to use deadly force.
“After the knock-down, drag-out fight that the officers had with this person," Williams said, "They tried to tase him several times it was ineffective, they tried to get him in custody several times it was ineffective, and the individual turned around with a raised open handcuff that could be seen as threatening to a police officer.”
This was the 25th shooting by Phoenix PD through the first six months of the year -- on pace to far exceed the total for each of the last five years.
Phoenix officers would be involved in their 26th shooting Thursday morning.
The spike in Phoenix has shot Maricopa County ahead of Los Angeles County -- which is two and a half times larger -- for officer-involved shootings this year.