Phoenix cop shot and killed wrong man Monday, family member says

A southwest Phoenix family is in “disarray” after a Phoenix police officer mistakenly shot and killed their patriarch on Monday — instead of the intruder who broke into the family’s home, the slain man’s stepson told Phoenix New Times.

Two days after the shooting, the Phoenix Police Department released the victim’s name as 36-year-old Christian Diaz Rendon in an updated statement after “many questions surrounding this tragic and complex incident.” Phoenix police have not confirmed the allegation that an officer shot and killed Rendon instead of the home intruder.

Jarvias Rosas, who is Rendon’s 21-year-old stepson, said seven people were in the family’s house near Lower Buckey Road and 75th Avenue on Monday evening when they heard shots coming from outside the home. (Rosas was not one of them and arrived after the shooting, he said.) They initially confused the shots for fireworks, but then several shots pierced through the home. Rendon told his family members to stay down and get inside their rooms as the intruder shot through the sliding glass window in the back of the home and forced his way in.

The intruder, whom the family identified as the adult son of their landlord, shot one of the family’s younger sons in the ankle before Rendon tackled the shooter to the ground, forced the gun out of his hand and called 911, Rosas said.

When Phoenix police arrived at the family’s home, Rosas’ mother — Rendon’s wife — told officers that Rendon had already disarmed the intruder and was holding him down on the ground in the residence, Rosas said. But when an officer entered the home, the officer shot Rendon and not the intruder, hitting Rendon “straight in the jaw,” Rosas said. Rendon’s jaw was “completely torn off” and his blood “splatter(ed) across the whole house,” Rosas said, adding that Rendon tried to drag himself into the living room but died after losing a lot of blood.

In a press release soon after the shooting, Phoenix police said officers responded to the area after receiving a call that a man was shooting at the house and a family member was hit. When officers arrived, a community member said that “someone was shooting people and to go in.” In an updated statement Wednesday night, Phoenix police added that officers were met with people telling them that “children were being shot inside the house,” and the officer who approached the front door “reported seeing a struggle.” 

“The officer ran toward the house and fired one round from his duty rifle through the open door. This was the moment the officer-involved shooting occurred,” the department wrote in its trademark passive voice. 

Phoenix police said two men were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including the man whom police detained. Another man was “pronounced dead at the scene,” according to police. The names of the other people — the person who was shot or the alleged intruder and the person who was arrested — were not provided in the release. Nor was the name of the officer who fired a weapon. The victim of the “aggravated assault” has been released from the hospital, and the suspect in that case “remains hospitalized” and will be booked on “related charges upon his release,” Phoenix police said in its updated statement. 

Phoenix police did not respond to questions about why the department hasn’t released all of the names or about its response to the allegations that an officer shot the wrong man. New Times has also requested the 911 call audio, but has not received it.

“The Phoenix Police Department remains committed to transparency and understands there are many questions surrounding this tragic and complex incident,” the department said in a statement. “We ask for patience as this investigation continues.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Major Incident Division is investigating the shooting and the “aggravated assault that occurred prior to police arrival.” It did not have an update on the investigation as of Wednesday night.

‘Sorry doesn’t help’

Rosas said the department has apologized to the family, but “whenever we ask questions, they say that it’s an ongoing investigation” and that “they can’t disclose the information.” 

“Sorry doesn’t help. Sorry is not gonna put food on the table,” Rosas said. “Sorry is not going to pay the next month’s rent. Sorry is not going to be the father figure for these kids. That’s like putting a Band-Aid on a broken vase.”

Rosas wasn’t at his home when the shooting occurred, but he made his way there after receiving a call that his brother had been shot in the ankle. When he arrived, he was told that “everyone else is fine” and officers had a “suspect in custody.” But when he finally spoke to his family, they told a different story.

“When they told me that my father died, I was just in disbelief. I was in shock,” Rosas said. “I didn’t think it actually happened. I thought maybe it was a bad dream, maybe it was a joke, maybe it was a prank.” 

More than 14 hours after Rendon was shot by police, his body was finally brought outside of the residence in a body bag and “that’s when everyone lost it,” Rosas said. He said his mother ran through the police tape screaming, trying to get close to her husband while officers held her back.

Since the death of their patriarch at the hands of police, Rendon’s family is “confused” and “lost,” Rosas said. “We’re all expecting him to just open the door and walk right out and say he’s fine.” But, he knows, “there’s no getting out of that bag. He’s not gonna be able to unzip that bag and get out.” 

Rosas described Rendon as a caring husband to his mother and someone who supported everyone in his family, as well as his neighbors. He acted as the full-time father figure to eight kids in his life, including his biological daughter, six step-siblings and one of his step-grandkids. One of Rendon’s older stepsons suffers from epileptic attacks and seizures, resulting from childhood brain cancer, Rosas said. Rendon helped pay for his medical bills and attended frequent visits with his doctors. 

“He helps out with my whole family,” Rosas said, adding that Rendon has been in his life since he was 12 years old. “Everyone depends on him.” 

The family has lived in their southwest Phoenix home since 2018 and has had a “good, solid relationship” with their landlord over the years. While the family has had a few positive interactions with the landlord’s son, Rosas said, they don’t know him very well. Some members of the family hadn’t seen his face before he broke into the home on Monday. Since the incident, Rosas said, the landlord has apologized to the family for his son’s actions and said his son suffers from schizophrenia and mental disorders that likely contributed to the break-in. New Times could not confirm that detail with the landlord.

Rendon’s family is pushing for answers, justice and accountability. Rosas has set up a GoFundMe to help the family pay for his father’s funeral expenses.

“Once that person is behind bars, serves his sentence and we get compensation, then we will forgive,” Rosas said of the officer who shot his father. “But at the moment, we can’t find it in our hearts.”