A Phoenix man was shot dead in a car by police, who he claims was armed, in an incident caught on camera on July 4, according to a report.
The Phoenix Police Department said it received a call Saturday afternoon about a man suspected of a previous aggravated assault returning to a home with a knife, the Republic of Arizona reported.
The caller directed officers to the home where the suspect was allegedly located, the outlet reported.
Police said they found a man sitting in a car in the driveway as they approached the house.
Officers ordered him to get out of the vehicle, but he refused and instead held a pistol, authorities said.
Then, allegedly, the man started to raise the gun, causing a police officer to break the passenger window of the car to distract him while two other officers shot at the vehicle, the outlet reported.
The man who died in the shooting was not identified by police, but Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Garcia said his name was James Garcia, according to the report.
In a Facebook video on Sunday, the victim’s sister, Jacqueline García, questioned the police claim that her brother was armed at the time.
The images show the officers surrounding the car when one of them yells through the driver’s window, telling the man not to move or shoot.
Moments later, the police can be seen shooting at the vehicle while witnesses yell at officers.
“Phoenix PD shot my brother who was unarmed sleeping in the car,” Jacqueline Garcia said in the post.
She said the officers “thought it was someone else” and that “after they killed [her] brother found the suspect they were looking for. “
But the police denied his accusations and said: “The suspect was not asleep in the vehicle, he armed himself, which is what [led] to the shooting involving the officer, ”reported the Republic of Arizona.
The protesters gathered Sunday night to demand that the police release body camera images of the deadly encounter.
“He may have deserved to go to jail, but he did not deserve to die,” one of the protesters, Fe’la Iniko, told the crowd, according to the report.
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