Phoenix police released the body camera video Monday in the fatal shooting of a man parked in a car on a driveway after the department’s public demands for transparency.
Phoenix police released a nearly 12-minute video Monday on their YouTube account summarizing the events that took place before the death of 28-year-old James “Jay” Garcia on July 4, with 911 audio and footage. body camera. The video contains disturbing images and profanity. The department also said the unedited images will be released to the media.
Agents responded to a 911 call on July 4 from a man who claimed that a suspect who previously stabbed him was back in the Maryvale neighborhood, according to police. The man in the 911 audio released by police said the suspect was “trying to kill me again.”
Body camera images show an officer touching the window of Garcia’s vehicle, which was parked in the driveway of a house near 59th Avenue and Indian School Road. Garcia told the officer that he was waiting for his cousin inside the house, and the officer said he was investigating a crime in the area and asked Garcia to get out of the vehicle, according to the video.
But what I did? That’s what I’m asking, what did I do? Garcia said in the video. “You’re like, you’re going to get in trouble, what did I do?”
“We have to identify everyone in this house,” replied the officer.
Garcia then offered to give the man his name, telling the officer that he had no identification. Garcia told the officer his name was Samuels García Salazar, but then he hesitated and apologized. The officer then told Garcia not to lie, and Garcia replied that he had a misdemeanor order against him.
“Okay, I don’t mind a stupid misdemeanor ticket,” the officer said. “If you have a misdemeanor order, I don’t care.”
Garcia then said his name was John Salazar Banuelos and gave him a fake birthday on January 1, 1982, which would have made him 38.
A sergeant finally approached the car, according to the video, and asked him why Garcia had not left his car. The sergeant told Garcia that they were investigating a stabbing at the house and that they needed to clean up the area in the event of a shooting.
“Right now you are the only person who is still at my crime scene, do you understand that?” said the sergeant.
Garcia insisted that he would wait in the car, even though the sergeant warned him that they would otherwise remove him from the vehicle. Garcia then rolls up his window, about 11 minutes after officers first contact him, and an officer sees a gun in the car, according to police.
Officers surround Garcia’s vehicle once the gun is seen and demand that Garcia lower the gun.
“Take your hand off the gun,” an officer said in the video. “Take your hand off the f —— gun.”
Garcia’s left side is partially visible on body camera images with his right side obstructed by the vehicle’s windows. An officer in the driver’s side window warned other officers that Garcia had a gun in his right hand, pointing down on his lap.
Officers then shoot Garcia through the window, according to the images. At one point, body camera images show an officer reaching the driver’s side window and exiting with a gun to take Garcia to medical attention.
Phoenix police said in a statement along with the body camera launch that detectives were able to identify Garcia through his fingerprints after the shooting and found arrest warrants for serious crimes and misdemeanors.
The detectives’ findings will be turned over to the Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office for review, and Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams has asked the FBI to open an independent civil rights investigation into the shooting.
Officers Noel Trevino, 29, and Gregory Wilson, 31, were placed on administrative leave after Garcia’s death, which police said was routine for a shooting involving the police.
Britt London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, confirmed to NBC News that the union represented the officers involved in the investigation of the shooting.
“We are pleased that our officers have not been injured in this incident, and we ask that people reserve their judgment until the investigation is completed,” London said.
Garcia’s death was met with public outrage when Phoenix residents expressed mistrust in the police department, demanding more transparency and accountability through the protest.
A vigil for Garcia was held at the house where he was shot, and a group of protesters gathered at the Phoenix police Maryvale compound two weeks ago to demand that the department publish full videos of the incident.
Williams responded to the lawsuits with a promise to release the body camera images within two weeks, an accelerated timeline to the standard 45-day policy the department has implemented.
Daniel Ortega, an attorney for Garcia’s family, was not immediately available to comment for NBC News.
Cases of deadly police force, particularly when minorities are involved, have come under intensive scrutiny since late May, when George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis officials. Floyd’s death has sparked protests against police brutality and systemic racism worldwide.
Activists have called for a series of police reforms, including increased oversight and reduced funding so that departments across the country are diverted to more community programs.
The Phoenix City Council approved funds last month for the city’s first police review board, the Office of Accountability and Transparency. The civilian-led board will receive $ 3 million of the money left over from the coronavirus relief, although activists lobbied for the funds to come from the police budget.