Phoenix Police Department
Audio By Carbonatix
The encounter between 22-year-old Aidan Piekarz and Phoenix police officer Jonathan Gay early in the morning of March 12 took less than 30 seconds. In that short period of time, Gay would kill someone while on duty for the first time in his five-year long career at the department, and Piekarz would lose his life.
On Thursday, the Phoenix Police Department released its “critical incident briefing” on Piekarz’s death. The video and accompanying write-up include excerpts of audio from a 911 call, body-cam and nearby surveillance camera footage. The briefings are released two weeks after an in-custody death, including fatal officer-involved shootings.
Phoenix New Times also received longer versions of the 911 call, body camera and nearby surveillance footage provided via a public records request, which show a fuller version of what transpired. However, because Gay did not activate his body cam until after the shooting had occurred, much of the crucial footage is silent, leaving some gaps in the public’s understanding of what happened.
Piekarz was the third person killed by Phoenix officers this year; police killed two other people in the days immediately following his shooting death. Last year, Phoenix police killed 11 people, fewer than each of the previous two years.
The shooting is being investigated by the Major Incidents Division of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will ultimately decide whether criminal charges are brought against Gay.
It’s also subject to an internal review by the Phoenix Police Department. Phoenix police’s policy on the use of deadly force says it is justified only when a “suspect is acting or threatening to cause death or serious physical injury to the employee or others,” and has the opportunity and “the means or instrumentalities to do so.” It also requires that de-escalation tactics “have been tried, have failed, or are determined to have not been feasible,” and that suspects be given “a reasonable opportunity to comply voluntarily.”
Gay has been with the department for five years and has never before killed someone while on duty. The Phoenix Police Department’s online use-of-force database shows that he was involved in four previous use-of-force cases. Only one involved a suspect with a gun, though Gay did not respond with lethal force. All four incidents were found to be within department policy.
The shooting
The shooting occurred just after 2 a.m. near 32nd Street and Paradise Lane in north Phoenix. According to the incident report, Piekarz’s driver’s license listed him as living in the neighborhood. From the time police contacted Piekarz to the moment shots rang out took less than 30 seconds.
Police responded to the area after a woman called 911 to report she’d driven by a nearby apartment complex when she heard a man yelling and firing a gun. “I thought he was talking on the phone, yelling…I don’t know, it was dark — he’s shooting off a gun!” the woman told the dispatcher. She described the man as blonde, of medium build and wearing black, but said she did not clearly see the gun.
“All I heard was, ‘Bro, I’m going to fuck you up,’ and then the gun just went off,” she said, adding that she heard about six shots in all.
The 27-year-old Gay and his partner — whose name was not released by the department but who is referred to as Kevin in body-cam footage — arrived on the scene at 2:22 a.m. Body-cam footage shows Gay scrambling out of the driver’s side of his patrol car, immediately drawing his firearm and securing it with both hands while he took shelter behind his door.
He did not, however, immediately activate his body cam. That means the first 90 seconds of footage, during which the entire shooting took place, contains no audio. However, some audio can be heard in footage from a surveillance camera mounted on a building farther down the street.
Gay’s body-cam footage shows that Piekarz was walking down the middle of the road as officers pulled up. Piekarz paused, then started walking again, this time towards Gay. It is difficult to see whether Piekarz was holding a gun in the video due to redactions and low video quality, though he was visibly holding something in his right hand.
Piekarz advanced toward Gay, swinging his arms as if to challenge the officer. It’s not clear if Piekarz said anything prior to the shooting, though enhanced audio from surveillance footage captured an officer yelling at Piekarz to “drop the gun!”
As Piekarz continued to advance, Gay shot him from about 20-30 feet away. Piekarz fell to the ground and then swung his right arm toward Gay, at which point Gay shot again.
Gay then took cover behind his car and activated his body cam, turning on audio recording.
The aftermath
Unedited body-cam footage acquired by New Times shows the tense, chaotic minutes in the shooting’s aftermath.
“Do not reach for that gun! If you do, you will get shot again. Do you understand me?” Gay yelled at Piekarz. Gay and his partner instructed Piekarz to “start rolling to your right” and “away from the gun if you want help.” The two officers stood with guns drawn for a few minutes. It’s not clear if Piekarz, who was no longer visible in the body-cam footage, was conscious.
“Get All Call! What the hell are we doing?” Gay eventually yelled to the other officer, referring to a type of call that prompts dispatchers to send both medical and law enforcement emergency responders. At one point, Gay yelled at a bystander, who is not visible in the footage, to move. He then radioed asking if a K-9 team was available to help drag Piekarz away from the gun.
Nearly five minutes after the shooting and using shields to protect from possible gunfire, Gay, his partner and another officer approached Piekarz’s prone body. Piekarz could be seen lying still on the pavement, wearing only black shorts and black socks, his chest covered in blood. The gun is not visible but may have been underneath Piekarz’s body.
Gay turned away and began pacing the street. “I might have pulled a round or two,” he said, meaning he might have fired one or two extra shots. “So, I don’t know. They weren’t here when I shot…” he said, referring to gathering bystanders.
“There’s nothing over there,” another officer reassured him.
Gay then walked back to where the officers stood over Piekarz, now cuffed and on his side. “Are we going to do chest compressions on him? Or…” he asked.
“Dude, he’s — there’s nothing,” an officer responded.
“All right,” Gay replied. “Probably take the cuffs off him.”
Gay continued to pace. Sirens blared in the background as emergency responders raced toward the scene. “Subject’s down. We’re code-fouring,” he said over the radio, which means assistance was no longer needed. One by one, newly arrived officers approached him with a mix of congratulations and concern.
“Well done,” said one. “You good?” said another. A third silently pat him on the shoulder.
As he walked away from the scene, Gay asked if he could turn off his body camera. The officer with him said yes.
So he did.
