Glendale PD releases video of police shooting that left suspect wounded who had a gun shaped lighter
By: On Sunday, April 28, near 51st and Myrtle avenues. That afternoon, 26-year-old Gohan Kancab allegedly stole a pair of scissors from Sine Ace Hardware, then returned to the store and began “recklessly waiving” what appeared to be a gun at employees and customers.
He then left again, and a store employee called 911.
“I’ve got a guy in our parking lot. He’s got a gun, and he’s smoking something,” the employee told a dispatcher. “He was just in our store, stole some stuff, ran out. He’s sitting by our light pole smoking something.”
Another witness told dispatchers that the suspect was still carrying what appeared to be a black handgun outside.
“He pulled it out of his backpack,” the witness said. “Now he’s holding it in his hand. He’s at the bus stop at 51st.”
Moments later, the first responding officer spotted the suspect at a bus stop outside the store.
Dash-mounted and body-cam video shows the officer stop in the street, get out of his patrol SUV, and order the suspect to raise his hands. The suspect is seen walking toward the officer and reaching into a backpack.
He then points an object at the officer, who then fires several rounds. Backup arrived, and officers took the wounded suspect into custody.
Officers also provided medical aid to Kancab before he was taken to the hospital. He was later treated, released and booked into the Maricopa County jail on several felony charges.
The object he was carrying was actually a lighter that resembled a .380 semi-automatic handgun. Per court documents released in the days after the shooting, Kancab told investigators he used the lighter to smoke fentanyl pills and that he pointed it at the officer because he was “scared and stupid.”