MARICOPA, AZ – On November 30th, the Maricopa Police Department (MPD) and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PSCO) jointly released body camera footage from three officers as well as footage from two drones in connection with an officer involved shooting.
The incident, which took place on August 29th around 10:30 a.m., involved 38-year-old Brian Simmons.
Officers with MPD responded to a call of a noise disturbance at a residence in the 43900 block of West McCord Drive. Simmons, the homeowner, initially approached responding officers to shake their hands and give them a hug.
Then, as the video footage shows, Simmons returns to the driveway where he grabs a gun. Simmons did not respond to the several verbal commands to drop the guns and eventually one officer fired a non-lethal round that appears to hit Simmons.
At that point, Simmons retreated into the house and barricaded himself inside. Moments later, Simmons can be seen coming around to a side yard from the back of the house. That is when he fired one shotgun round. Thankfully, no one was hit.
Police responded with gunfire, with at least 22 shots fired at Simmons. MPD called PCSO and SWAT to help control the situation. Drones were deployed, showing Simmons on the ground.
Around 1:15 p.m., a flash-bang was fired and landed within feet of where Simmons was lying. As SWAT members approached the residence, they found Simmons lying dead in the yard.
Maricopa: Brian Simmons you knew — mentally ill after workplace radiation exposure — not real Brian Simmonshttps://t.co/n1idvh2qhj
— InMaricopa.com (@InMaricopa) December 6, 2022
During the incident, several homes in the area were briefly evacuated and Butterfield Elementary School went on lockdown.
Pinal County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy to determine the cause of Simmons death, whether it was from being shot by officers or by other means.
In Tucson, Arizona, authorities are investigating an officer-involved shooting that happened late in the evening on Sunday, December 4th. The incident happened just after 7:00 p.m. when officers responded to a report of an aggravated assault involving an armed man.
Officers located the residence and attempted to get the man out of the home. Eventually, the suspect came out with a gun and immediately shot in the direction of the officers. The officers fired back, striking the suspect.
The suspect was declared dead at the scene and no other injuries were reported. The Pima Regional Critical Incident Team (PRCIT) is conducting the criminal portion of the investigation.
An internal investigation, which is per policy and procedure for all officer-involved shootings, is also being conducted. PRCIT, which was formed in March 2022, is comprised of PCSD and eight police departments.
The multi-agency group investigates all officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths. In Rialto, California, a man carrying an assault rifle confronted officers at the police station.
Video of the incident shows the moment the armed man gained access to a secure area of a Rialto police station just before an officer opened fire.
An investigation is underway after an undescribed incident took place inside the Rialto Police Department building Monday evening.
Read more: https://t.co/q0MT2N6dEG#shooting #Rialto #California #USA #NewsUpdate #icr360 pic.twitter.com/iNsfzIsJva
— International Crisis Room 360 (@ICR360) December 6, 2022
The incident was reported just after 5:00 p.m. Police said that the suspect entered a secure area of the station armed with the rifle. He was confronted and then shot at by officers.
In the video, the suspect is seen following a Rialto officer through the gates of the police station into the parking lot. He then gets out of his car with a rifle and approaches the officer’s car door.
The suspect, however, does not shoot. Instead, he runs away only to turn around and raise the weapon again. By this time, the officer was out of his patrol vehicle and opened fire, striking the suspect several times.
The suspect fell to the ground; officers poured out of the building to help. The suspect, who was not pronounced dead at the scene, was transported to a nearby hospital. Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling said during a press conference:
“The brazenness of criminals in today’s society is just overwhelming to me. I’ve been doing this for 37 years and in 37 years, I would never ever though that somebody would come in armed with some type of weapon and assaulted our police officers. And, I think what is concerning is it’s just not here inside Rialto. We’re talking everywhere.”
He added:
“The good news for the Rialto Police Department is we are in the process of designing and building a brand new police facility, which will actually handles all the safety issues.”
The attempted attack highlights just how vulnerable officers are on the job. Kling said:
“We are becoming more and more vulnerable to brazen attacks every single day, and not just here in the city Rialto. Law enforcement officers, both county deputies and also municipal police, not only throughout the state but the country, are being faced with the challenges that we never, ever though we would ever have to be faced with and it’s got to stop.”
