[misspie]

The case of Daniel Shaver, a 26-year-old Texas man fatally shot by police in Mesa, Arizona, in January 2016, sparked national controversy and debate over police use of force. The incident, captured on a police body camera, raised serious questions about the circumstances under which lethal force is deemed necessary.

On January 18, 2016, police responded to a call at a Mesa hotel about a person pointing a rifle out of a hotel room window. Shaver, who was staying at the hotel on a work trip, had been showing two acquaintances a pellet gun he used in his pest control business. When officers arrived at the scene, Shaver was ordered to exit his hotel room and comply with a series of commands in the hallway.

The body camera footage showed Shaver visibly confused and emotional as he attempted to follow the complex and sometimes contradictory instructions from the responding officer, Philip Brailsford. In a crucial moment, as Shaver made a movement that Brailsford perceived as a reach for a weapon, Brailsford shot Shaver five times, resulting in his death. It was later confirmed that Shaver was unarmed at the time of the shooting.

Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter. In December 2017, he was acquitted of all charges, a decision that intensified public debate about the case and the broader issues of police training and accountability.

[CuriousGeorge420]

Serious exit wounds.

[Susan]

Oh wow.

[Meridian]

Unarmed, confused, scared, trying not to do the wrong thing, and shot in cold blood by police. This is terrifying.

[arvindmreuben]

Wow....booom....police f*€[ing brutality...

[Sharon]

Police say Shaver twice disobeyed their orders, and he was shot after reaching toward his waistband.

If that's true then this incident seems unfortunately expected.

They probably didn't know it was a pellet gun and were trying to do their job. Reaching towards his waistband was their trigger.

I understand how police can be gung-ho in their actions and this case is one of those examples.

[misspie]

2 more pics if anyone cares

[misspie]

Sorry, I suck.

[Pyramid_Head]

Trigger happy cop.

[kellyhound]

Arizona police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford, a Ramboesque nerd of a cop, was one of six Mesa police officers who had their guns drawn on Daniel Shaver after they ordered him out of his hotel room last January.

Show us your hands, they first shouted. Place your hands behind your head, they then ordered. Place your hands on the floor and come crawling to use, they then commanded.

Shaver, a 26-year-old man who only moments earlier was showing his pellet gun to a couple of new acquaintances he had met in the hotel, began crawling towards the cops.

At one point, it appeared as if his shorts began slipping off and he instinctively reached back to pull them up, but a Mesa police sergeant told him not to do it again because it can be perceived as a threat.

“Please don’t shoot me,” Shaver begged as he kept crawling.

But his shorts kept slipping, so he reached back again to pull them up and that was when Brailsford fired five rounds from his personal AR-15 rifle with the words “You’re Fucked” inscribed on it, killing Shaver instantly.

One bullet struck Shaver in the back of the head. Another stuck him in the upper back. Another ripped into his upper chest. Another tore into his lower leg. And another grazed his cheek.

The autopsy report indicates that Shaver had his head down on the carpet for those two bullets to enter the back of his head and upper back.

Brailsford ( he is the son of a longtime internal affairs officer from the Mesa Police Department) would later tell investigators that watching Shaver crawl towards him wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts was a “terrifying” experience each time he reached back to pull up his shorts.

But his body cam footage convinced Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery that there was no need to kill Shaver – which is why the other five cops held their fire – and charged him with second-degree murder.

Bodycam footage is expected to be released soon.

Can't wait for that footage.