Bodycam shows sheriff's deputies shoot, kill man holding pellet rifle
By: The Maricopa Country Sheriff's Office released body camera footage of deputies shooting and killing a man near Guadalupe after they say he pointed a gun at deputies. The gun was later determined to be a pellet rifle, the sheriff's office said.
According to the Sheriff's Office, around 9:40 p.m. on May 19, deputies were monitoring the area near Calle Guadalupe and the Highline Canal when they saw a suspicious individual armed with a rifle. Deputies approached the man, later identified as Tomas Ramirez-Martinez, 42, and he pointed the rifle at them.
Deputies shot at Ramirez-Martinez after he refused to put the gun down. He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he later died, the Sheriff's Office said.
The Sheriff's Office released about a minute-long video of body camera footage from two deputies involved in the shooting.
The footage shows two deputies ordering a man, identified as Ramirez-Martinez, to drop the gun and to not raise the gun, to which the man says no. In the footage, the man is only visible from the waist up and a gun is not visible.
He is then seen raising his arms, at which point the deputy backs away and around his car, yelling "drop the gun!" and shots are fired. At least 16 shots are heard. The footage shows the man running away while being shot at before he drops to the ground.
Deputies then order Ramirez-Martinez to drop the gun and not to move before they confirm to each other that they are ok, body camera footage shows.
No deputies or bystanders were injured in the shooting, the Sheriff's Office said.
An investigation into the shooting was ongoing.