Phoenix officer uses stun gun, shoots man during fight in new body-cam video

Body-cam video shows an officer shooting a man who kicked and tried punching him outside a Phoenix bus depot earlier this month.
Published: Mar. 22, 2023 at 6:26 PM MST

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Phoenix police made public Wednesday afternoon body-cam and surveillance video of an officer shooting a man who reportedly attacked him at a bus station earlier this month. Phoenix Police Sgt. Melissa Soliz said a man was acting erratically and disturbing people inside the Tufesa bus depot near 27th Avenue and McDowell Road on March 8.

In a 911 call obtained by Arizona’s Family, the man sounded calm as he said he was calling to turn himself in. When asked by the dispatcher why he was calling, he said he was turning himself in for “rape.” Phoenix police have been unable to link him to any crimes before being shot. Another 911 call made later by one of the employees says the man was screaming inside the depot and disturbing customers and asked for an officer to pick the man up.

The first officer arrives around 5 a.m. Body-cam video shows the officer walking toward the employees and asking if they called. They immediately pointed to a man wearing a blue suit coat, pink dress shirt and beige slacks who was sitting down. The officer approached him and asked, “you want to talk to me, my man?” The man replies, “yes,” as he stands up.

“Let’s go outside,” the officer says, slowly walking and getting the man to exit first. Once outside, the officer asked the man how he was doing. He started saying, “so, I’m here because,” before being cut off by the officer, who tells him to “stop going closer to me.” The man goes silent for a second. The officer tries to get him to continue talking, but he tries to push the officer while saying, “you need to ******* leave.”

The officer quickly draws his stun gun and fires at the man, who falls to the ground. The officer closes in on the man on the ground, saying, “don’t ******* touch me!” The officer then orders him to place his hands behind his back, but he turns around and kicks at the officer, knocking the stun gun out of his hand. The officer briefly slips to the ground while the man screams as he gets up. He then charges at the officer and begins punching and hitting him. The officer broke away from the man to get some distance.

The officer then turns around with his gun drawn and shoots at the man twice. He is seen going down immediately onto his back. He was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. The officer involved in the shooting has been with the department for six years and is assigned to the Maryvale Estrella Mountain Precinct.