Incident: Saturday, October 10, 2026, about 12:30 p.m., near 40 E. Sunland Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona. Footage released by the Phoenix Police Department in a Critical Incident Briefing on Friday, October 23, 2026.
At about 12:30 p.m., a 911 caller reported a man walking around an apartment complex near 40 E. Sunland Avenue with a gun and a knife, mumbling to himself. According to the Phoenix Police Department, he was last seen going into an apartment where he was believed to live.
Officers went to that apartment. The man came out still holding the gun and the knife and did not comply with multiple commands to drop the gun. One officer used a PepperBall launcher to try to gain compliance.
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Police say he then raised the gun toward officers. One officer fired a rifle, striking him, and he fell. On the ground, he raised the gun again, and a second officer fired a rifle, also striking him.
Once the scene was secure, officers approached to render aid. The Phoenix Fire Department took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The firearm recovered at the scene was later determined to be a replica BB gun. Investigators later learned the 911 call came from the phone of the man who died. Police say no officers or community members were injured.
Both officers are assigned to the South Mountain Precinct and have about two and five years of service. The Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Major Incident Division is conducting the criminal investigation, the department is conducting an administrative investigation, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will review the case. Phoenix police say no conclusions will be made until the investigation is complete.
The video above is the Phoenix Police Department’s own Critical Incident Briefing.
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