Phoenix Police Department officers have now shot and killed 10 people this year — as many people as they did in all of 2022. Victims of the shootings have ranged in age from 26 to 76, and while some were armed with guns, others had replica firearms or, in one case, a pair of scissors.
In a July 18 statement, the agency said that Reyes pointed a gun at officers before he was shot. Body camera footage from the incident has not yet been made available to the public. But generally, within two weeks after a fatal police encounter, the department releases edited body camera footage that it calls a "critical incident briefing."
According to the available police account, officers encountered Reyes at around 8 p.m. while responding to an accident in east Phoenix near Harrison and 18th streets. They believed that he left his vehicle at the scene and departed on foot.
Officers observed Reyes "acting erratically" and walking along the railroad tracks, according to the agency's initial statement. They then used an unspecified "less-lethal tool" on Reyes, but he did not comply with commands and at some point pulled out a gun, police said. At least one officer shot Reyes, and he was pronounced dead on the scene, the agency said.
Reyes' death comes after the July 1 fatal shooting of another 35-year-old man, Raul Mendez, and the June 28 shooting of 26-year-old Juan Reynoso.
The police department is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for, among other things, its officers' use of deadly force.
Activists and family members of Jacob Harris, a man who was shot and killed by Phoenix police in 2019, protested outside City Hall in May.
Katya Schwenk
14 fatal incidents so far in 2023
Phoenix police officers have been involved in 14 fatal incidents so far this year, including 10 fatal shootings. In some of these cases, the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner determined the death was not caused by officers:- Jan. 3: Officers shot and killed Cosme Medina Núñez, a 46-year-old man who was holding a pair of scissors.
- Jan. 7: Officers shot and killed Kenneth Hearne, 37, who was armed with a handgun. Hearne shot a Scottsdale police officer the day prior.
- Feb. 11: Bryan Funk, a 40-year-old man who had just been released from prison, died after multiple officers pinned him to the ground and restrained his legs during an arrest. The medical examiner later determined that Funk's death was the result of meth intoxication and a heart condition, according to a report obtained by New Times.
- Feb. 22: Derin Holmes, 41, died of a gunshot wound. Although officers fired at Holmes, Phoenix police said the fatal wound was self-inflicted. A subsequent investigation by the county medical examiner also determined Holmes died by suicide.
- Feb. 22: Officers shot and killed Jason Resendez, 47, who pulled out a gun as officers approached him.
- Feb. 25: Officers shot and killed Matthew Anthony Sansotta, 36, during a DUI investigation.
- March 5: Officers shot and killed James Saucedo, 42. Officers said Saucedo shot a woman before they arrived. Body camera footage showed him grabbing his gun during a struggle with officers before he was fatally shot.
- March 6: Officers shot and killed Anthony Castro, 40. Officers said Castro was stabbing a woman when he was shot.
- March 14: Police said Daniel Parra, 37, fled when officers tried to stop him as he walked in an HOV lane on Interstate 17. Officers chased Parra into a QuikTrip near Cactus Road, where he brandished a knife and barricaded himself in a storage room and set it afire, police said. When SWAT officers entered the room, Parra was unresponsive. An investigation by the medical examiner determined that Parra's primary cause of death was smoke inhalation.
- April 1: Officers shot and killed Dwight Cornwell, 76, after he shot a handgun into the air while they were investigating reports of an attempted burglary at an apartment complex.
- June 19: Luis Mateo Jacobo Borja, 29, died after shooting at multiple police officers during a pursuit, sending two officers to the hospital. Police said it's still unclear whether Borja died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or from an officer's rifle fire.
- June 28: Officers shot and killed Juan Reynoso, 26, who they claimed was holding a gun, which later turned out to be a replica.
- July 1: Officers shot and killed Raul Mendez, 35, while responding to a complaint about a burglary. They claimed Mendez tried to grab an officer's Taser during a struggle.
- July 17: Officers shot and killed Armando Reyes, 35, after responding to a call for a traffic accident. The police report indicated that Reyes had a gun and refused to comply with officers' commands.
