Growing outrage in Phoenix after police shoot man in parked car
Video of incident sparks renewed protests over police tactics - NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - A bystander captured the tense Fourth of July confrontation on cell phone video.
"Hey! If you don't stop f* moving, I'll f* shoot you!" you hear on the video.
Officers continue shouting into the parked car, then suddenly firing a barrage of bullets.
"That's f** up! "That's f** up!" you hear the bystander say.
The video doesn't clearly show what happened in the moments before the gunfire. Nor does it show what led up to the incident. But the man inside that car, 28-year-old Jay Garcia, died.
"The officers did not have a warrant, and simply approached him in his car, assuming he was someone he wasn't." said Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Garcia.
Phoenix Police say they were responding to a 9-1-1 caller who said someone was threatening him with a knife.
"Yeah, he's trying to kill me again." said the man on the 9-1-1 call.
The police say the caller directed them to a house. Once they arrived, officers say they spoke with several people, including Garcia. They say they spent 10-minutes asking him to leave his car so they could secure the scene.
"That's when Mr. Garcia decided that he was not going to interact with officers anymore and he rolled his window and that's when he armed himself with a gun." said Sgt. Mercedes Fortune with Phoenix Police.
Police also claim Garcia pointed a gun at an officer.
The Phoenix Police Department has only released body cam footage from an officer who arrived after the shooting and retrieved a weapon from Garcia's car.
"Gun is secure!" you hear the officer say. "
"Wasn't there some other way to handle this or some way that this could have been handled that would have involved more de-escalation?" reporter Gabe Gutierrez asked Sgt. Fortune.
"So once again, those are things that are going to be looked at when this investigation is complete." answered Sgt. Fortune.
Garcia's family, and protestors, are now demanding answers.
"My brother is James Garcia and he deserves justice, please help me get justice for my brother."
Phoenix police now say they cannot find the original 9-1-1 caller. Investigators say they did not find a knife inside Garcia's car.
