Glendale PD releases body-cam video from police shooting that left an armed suspect injured
By: The Glendale Police Department released edited body-camera and dashcam video of the moments that led up to a police shooting in a neighborhood near 67th Avenue and Cactus Road early last month.
Around 2 p.m. on April 3, officers responded to a home on Sierra Street after a 911 caller reported that a man, later identified as 24-year-old Martell Hare, Jr., was armed with a gun and standing in front of their home.
Moments later, several other 911 calls came in, claiming that Hare was acting erratically and waving a gun around the neighborhood. In one 911 recording released Friday afternoon, the dispatcher asks: “Is he pointing at you or what exactly?” — The caller replies, “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Hare then got into a Toyota sedan and reportedly began driving erratically up and down the street. As an officer enters the neighborhood, dashcam video shows Hare driving towards him. Police say the officer spotted a weapon, which prompted him to fire multiple rounds at the vehicle.
Police previously said that a second officer witnessed what happened, but didn’t shoot. The video doesn’t show Hare firing any shots.
After the officer exits the patrol vehicle, the unidentified officers can be heard saying: “Drop the gun. Drop the gun. Let me see your hand [...] Don’t reach for anything.”
The officer approaches and asks Hare to open the door from the outside and lie on the floor directly onto his stomach. Hare lies on his back for a few seconds before correcting his position.
Hare is then handcuffed and then rendered medical aid.
“Ay, I’m not a criminal, bro. I just want to die,” Hare told officers.
Hare was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries to his arms. Court papers later revealed that he wanted to initiate an officer-involved shooting.
Inside the car, detectives recovered a BB gun resembling a 9mm handgun.
The officer involved in the shooting is a five-year veteran of the Glendale Police Department. No officers or residents were injured.
Hare has since been booked into jail on felony charges, including aggravated assault, endangerment, disorderly conduct involving weapons, and possession of a weapon by a prohibited possessor.