Phoenix Police Department
Audio By Carbonatix
On the evening of Feb. 27, troopers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety attempted to stop a man in a black sedan. The man fled, setting off a chain of events that led to state troopers stopping his car with a grappling device and, ultimately, to several troopers and Phoenix police officers killing him in an onslaught of bullets.
It’s not clear that the man, identified as 41-year-old Jesus A. Gonzalez Florez, was ever armed.
On Friday, the Phoenix Police Department released a “critical incident briefing” on Florez’s death. The briefings, which are released two weeks after any police shooting or in-custody death, include snippets of body-worn camera footage and dispatch audio. Phoenix New Times also obtained longer body-cam footage via a public records request — though because Phoenix officers arrived later at the scene, that video doesn’t depict the full sequence of events. DPS has not released any body-cam footage from its troopers, and a DPS spokesperson acknowledged but did not respond to a question about whether such footage will be provided.
According to DPS, troopers attempted to stop Florez’s black Chevy sedan for a traffic violation around 9 p.m. on Feb. 27 in South Phoenix. DPS did not specify the traffic violation and the DPS spokesperson did not answer a question about it. A DPS press release about the shooting said that Florez did not pull over, precipitating a police pursuit. Eventually, a DPS trooper used a grappler device to latch onto Florez’s car and bring it to a stop on a frontage road where 19th Avenue hits Interstate 17.
Both Florez and a passenger initially exited his car. The passenger was arrested and later released. Body-cam footage shows a woman being placed in handcuffs, while Florez can be seen on the side of the road with his arms raised. But Florez then got back in the car and tried to drive away with his car still tethered to a DPS vehicle.
Phoenix police body-cam footage depicts the chaotic next few minutes. As Florez tried to pull away, his tires screeching and kicking up plumes of smoke, he yanked the attached DPS vehicle forward several feet, nearly hitting a trooper who was behind the vehicle’s open driver’s side door. Troopers frantically tried to reposition other DPS vehicles into a pinching maneuver to block Florez, though they were delayed for about half a minute because they couldn’t find the keys to one of the SUVs.
The troopers eventually pinned Florez’s car, which was quickly surrounded by armed officers. One of them — it’s not clear if it was a trooper or a Phoenix police officer — began loudly telling Florez to “stop fucking reaching!” and to keep his hands on his head. (Body-cam footage from several Phoenix police officers shows the car and the standoff, though Florez is not visible.) Suddenly, shots began to ring out, leading two Phoenix police officers — Bryce Segatto at the side of the car with a rifle, and Vontray Gardner near the front with a handgun — to unload a slew of shots into the car. In body-cam footage, Segatto can be heard saying he fired three or four times. Gardner can be seen firing 15 shots.
A DPS spokesperson did not answer a question about what specifically led officers to begin shooting at Florez, whose car wound up pocked with bullet holes in the windshield and side windows. A Phoenix police advisory on the shooting did not mention Florez having any weapon, much less brandishing one. A DPS press release on the shooting mentions only that “a machete was later located under the passenger seat of the vehicle.” Body-cam footage from Phoenix officer Gerald Happeny shows him repeatedly pointing a flashlight into Florez’s empty, perforated vehicle after Florez had been removed from it. When someone asked what he was looking for, he turned off his body cam.
After the barrage, Florez’s foot remained on the gas. Troopers and officers remained positioned around the car for eight minutes while it continued to run, with Segatto warning that the engine might soon catch on fire. Eventually, Happeny fired a stun baton launcher at Florez to determine if it was safe to approach him. Florez was removed from the car soon after, and Happeny turned off the engine.
The Phoenix Fire Department pronounced Florez dead at the scene. Florez became the second person in 2026 to be shot and killed by Phoenix cops and the third to die during an interaction with Phoenix police. Since his death, Phoenix police have shot and killed three more people. Last year, Phoenix officers killed 11 people, down from 14 the year before.
DPS has not released the names of the troopers involved in Florez’s killing, despite Phoenix police having done so with its officers. The Phoenix Police Department’s use-of-force database shows that Segatto has seven previous use-of-force incidents, none of which involved lethal force and all of which were found to be within department policy. Gardner, who has been with the department for less than a year, has no use-of-force incidents on his record.
DPS’s Major Incidents Division is investigating the shooting. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will ultimately decide whether to bring charges. The Phoenix Police Department is also conducting an internal investigation.
