Joyner was the 14th and final person shot and killed by Phoenix police in 2024.
On Thursday, the Phoenix Police Department released a “critical indecent briefing” on the shooting, which is made public after any police shooting or in-custody death. The briefings are narrated by officers and include dispatch audio, body-worn camera footage and, in the case of Joyner’s death, surveillance footage from inside the restaurant.
The footage and audio from the Dec. 18 shooting show Joyner entering the restaurant and customers and staff fleeing, as well as the standoff with cops that preceded Joyner’s death. But they do little to fill in the blanks of why he entered the restaurant in the first place and why he fired upon officers.
From standoff to shootout
At about 11 a.m. on Dec. 18, Joyner pulled up to and entered the Whataburger on Thunderbird Road and 28th Avenue, raising a rifle in the air. “He came ripping into the parking lot, slammed on his brakes, and just walked in with it pointed straight up in the air,” one 911 caller said in dispatch audio released by police. The caller said Joyner was holding an AR-style rifle, though police declined to confirm the make of Joyner’s weapon or how many rounds he had in his possession.The caller also said Joyner was not pointing the rifle at anyone, which is reflected in surveillance video included in the briefing. According to police, Joyner told one customer and four employees in the Whataburger to get out. Within a minute, all had exited the store, though the customer stopped at the doorway and returned to his table to apparently grab his phone. Nothing in the video released by police suggests Joyner tried to rob the restaurant.
Surveillance video from outside the store shows that at one point before police vehicles arrived, Joyner exited the restaurant and pointed his rifle at a police helicopter in the air. Officers arrived on the ground shortly after and surrounded the building, beginning a standoff with Joyner that lasted roughly 20 minutes, police said. Police said Joyner then fired his rifle through the glass windows of the store, shooting at officers on three occasions. According to police, officers returned fire twice.
Video surveillance from inside the Whataburger shows the interior of the restaurant as gunfire is exchanged between Joyner and officers outside. Joyner fires through windows on different sides of the restaurant before sitting on a bench. Police said one patrol car was hit by gunfire but no officers were injured.
Later, video footage shows a police drone entering the restaurant. Sitting casually cross-legged in a seat, Joyner raised his rifle at the drone, at which point an officer shot him, according to police spokesperson Sgt. Brian Bower. Though Joyner’s body is largely blurred in the surveillance video released by police — which contains no sound — he appears to suddenly slump over after raising the weapon.
In body camera footage from three officers outside the restaurant, one is heard firing his rifle before saying, “I think I got him.” Police then entered the Whataburger and determined that no one else was in the store. Joyner was pronounced dead when fire personnel arrived.
Five officers — Rudy Castillo, Austin Diaz, Chase Ditwiler, Josue Murillo and Justice Stokes — all fired at Joyner, police said. They all work in the Cactus Park police precinct and have a range of two to 24 years of experience with the department. When asked if the officers were still on active assignment, a department spokesperson referred Phoenix New Times to its policy, which states that officers involved in shootings automatically receive three weeks of non-patrol duty.
Police said they recovered this weapon after the shootout with Marion Joyner on Dec. 18.
Phoenix Police Department
Under investigation
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office opened a criminal investigation into the shooting, and police are conducting an internal investigation to determine if the officers followed department policy.The shooting capped off a year when the U.S. Department of Justice released a long-awaited report on Phoenix police. Among other conclusions, it found that Phoenix police have a pattern of using excessive and unjustified deadly force.
The Phoenix City Council and many politicians, including Democratic Senator-elect Ruben Gallego, have opposed a consent decree, which would place the department under independent oversight. However, with Republican Donald Trump set to reassume the presidency in January, it appears unlikely that the DOJ will compel Phoenix police into a binding agreement.
