ARIZONA

Arizona police shootings in 2021

are on track to outpace those in all
of 2020 and 2019
Chelsea Curtis
Arizona Republic
Published 6:00 a.m. MT Aug. 19, 2021 Updated 3:46 p.m. MT Aug. 22, 2021

Anthony Cano had just begun working toward getting his GED diploma over winter
break last year.

The 17-year-old was nearing his senior year at Chandler High School but decided
he'd rather hurry the process along to go to college sooner — and possibly pursue a
career in nursing, like his aunt Eva Cano.

Caring for others was in his nature, according to Eva Cano. When his grandma
needed help tending to the front yard, Anthony was there. He took his family's dogs
on walks and played with them in the backyard. He even volunteered to bring food
to his family members when they became sick with COVID-19.

"Anthony wasn't a troublemaker," Eva Cano said. "He was very mischievous, he had
ADHD and was on meds, he was super hyperactive and played every sport under
the sun, but he was not a bad kid."

Anthony's plans for his future came to a halt on Jan. 2 when he was shot twice in
the back by Chandler police Officer Chase Bebak-Miller. He had been riding
his bike that evening, possibly to a friend's house, when Bebak-Miller said he
noticed Anthony weaving into both lanes of traffic without a front headlight.
As Bebak-Miller chased Anthony on foot through Gazelle Meadows Park, just a few
houses away from the teen's home in the neighborhood, Anthony could be seen on
police body camera footage dropping a gun and then reaching back to pick it up. He
later told the officer he was trying to throw the gun away.

"None of us knew he had this weapon on him," Eva Cano said, adding that they later
learned Anthony was being threatened by a group of young adults after he
accidentally hit their car with a football. "We found out that night he was shot, and
that's the only thing we could think of as to why he even would've had that in his
pocket."

Within seconds of Anthony reaching for the gun, Bebak-Miller shot him once in the
back and then again while he was lying face down. He was taken to a hospital in
critical condition and died weeks later on Jan. 23.

A six-month analysis by The Arizona Republic revealed police statewide not only
shot people more times in the first half of 2021 than they did in the same time
span the last two years, but more of those shootings were fatal.

Arizona police shootings in first half of 2021 exceed halves in

2020, 2019 

Anthony was the youngest of at least 27 people fatally shot by Arizona police in the
first six months of this year — a total that's surpassed the 19 known fatal police
shootings during the same six months in 2020 and 22 in 2019, according to data
collected and analyzed by The Republic. 

On average, someone in Arizona died once a week in the first half of this year
because they were shot by police, data showed.

Arizona officers, on average, shot someone every four days this year, totaling at
least 43 police shootings from Jan. 1 through June 30, data showed. In comparison,
there were 34 known police shootings during the same time span in 2020 and 37 in
2019 according to The Republic's data
Arizona police in the first half of this year also fired at people another six times but
missed, bringing the state's total number of police shooting incidents during that
time span to at least 49, data showed.

Most people shot by police this year were armed, according to the police agencies.
In many cases, police said the person was armed with a gun but other weapons
included knives, vehicles, hand tools, bayonets and a flare gun.

Data also showed the number of police shootings and fatalities in Arizona this year
appear to be on track to outpace those in all of 2020 and 2019.

Arizona saw at least 52 police shootings to date in 2021, nearing all 75 known
shootings in 2020 and 60 in 2019, according to The Republic's data. The average
annual total statewide over the past decade is about 73 police shootings, The
Republic found.

Thirty-one of the state's at least 52 police shootings to date this year resulted in a
fatality, which also neared all 38 known fatal police shootings in 2020 and 37 in
2019, data showed.

Related reading: In 2020, despite outrage over police violence, Arizona officers
opened fire more than 2019

Phoenix police shootings in first 6 months of 2021 same as

previous 2 years

Police in Phoenix, the state's most populous city and now the fifth-largest city in the
nation, had the highest number of shootings and fatalities among all Arizona law
enforcement agencies the past two years and so far this year, The Republic's data
showed.

The department's number of shootings in the first half of this year appears to be
consistent with those in 2020 and 2019 during the same time span, The Republic's
data showed. 
Phoenix police were involved in at least nine shootings from Jan. 1 through June
30, matching the number of known shootings in each of the first halves of 2020 and
2019, data showed. The department's five known fatal police shootings in the first
six months of this year exceeded the four known in 2020 and fell below the eight
known in 2019.

In comparison, San Antonio police's six shootings in the first half of the year were
lower than Phoenix's nine shootings. Police shooting data for 2021 was not yet
available for other cities that were similar in population size to Phoenix.

Phoenix police in the first half of this year also fired gunshots at people another two
times but missed, bringing the department's total number of police shooting
incidents during that time span to at least 11, data showed. 

Police Chief Jeri Williams was unavailable for an interview, according to

department spokesperson Sgt. Ann Justus. 

The department in the first six months of this year received 339,507 emergency

calls, which was over 4,600 more than in 2020 during the same time frame and
nearly 9,000 more than in 2019, Justus said. Not all of those calls, however,
resulted in person-to-person contact between police and members of the public,
Justus explained. 

Justus noted that all of the people involved in the department's 11 police shooting
incidents in the first half of this year were armed at the time. One was armed with a
knife and "advanced towards officers," she said. The other 10 were armed with
handguns, five of which were discharged, she said.

Two of those 10 people who were armed with a handgun but did not discharge it
either had a hostage or attempted to take a hostage, according to Justus.

"For the past two years, violent crime in the City of Phoenix has increased
significantly," Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Michael "Britt"
London said in a statement to The Republic. "Violent crimes involving criminal
homicide have increased by 36% and aggravated assault crimes have increased by
55%. These are real challenges Phoenix police officers are facing each day as the
department continues to be woefully understaffed and under-resourced."

"Any time there is an officer-involved shooting, it is incumbent upon the Phoenix

Police Department and investigators to analyze and assess the
specific circumstances and factors of each case without speculation or
generalizations," London continued. "Every incident is unique and must be treated
that way."

Police reform: Here's what Phoenix has and hasn't done to reform its police

Phoenix police shootings likely part of DOJ investigation

The Justice Department on Aug. 5 announced that it opened a far-reaching inquiry

into claims of abuse, excessive force and discrimination by police in
Phoenix. Federal officials said the investigation would focus on five issues, among
them use of force and deadly force.

It’s unclear which events, if any, triggered the federal investigation.

Phoenix police, however, have faced multiple controversies regarding deadly use of
force in recent years, including in 2017 after officers kneeled on the neck of
Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin Jr. before he died. Muslim Advocates, a national
organization in Washington, D.C., backing Muhaymin and his family, claimed they
requested the federal investigation into Phoenix police in June.

Several Phoenix police shootings in the last decade have also drawn widespread

criticism.

In 2014, Phoenix police arrived at Michelle Cusseaux’s apartment to take her to a

mental health facility. The 50-year-old had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and
depression.
Instead, she was fatally shot by an officer moments after answering the door with a
hammer above her head.

Among the police shootings that have drawn the most public outrage in recent years
is when a Phoenix police officer in May 2020 fatally shot 40-year-old Ryan
Whitaker within seconds of interacting with him.

It was late into the evening and Whitaker held a gun down at his side when he
answered knocks at the front door of his Ahwatukee Foothills apartment, not
knowing police were on the other side.

James Garcia less than two months later was fatally shot by Phoenix police while
sitting inside a car parked in his friend’s driveway. At the time, he had been
experiencing homelessness, struggling with drug addiction and needed a place to
sleep.

Garcia was sleeping in the car when police arrived at the home about a reported
stabbing suspect in the area. While he didn’t match the suspect’s description,
officers still woke him to ask questions.  

Police said Garcia was armed and, after 13 minutes of interacting with officers,
raised his arm so they began shooting into the car. It’s unclear in police body
camera footage, however, if he ever raised the gun toward officers.

For subscribers: Key players to watch as Department of Justice investigation into

Phoenix police begins

Police shootings statewide and in Phoenix this year remain

below record set in 2018

The Republic found that Arizona police between 2011 and 2018 were involved in
600 shootings, more than half of which resulted in fatalities.
Phoenix police during that same 8-year period were involved in 201 shootings – the
most of any Arizona police department.

Combined with The Republic’s known police shooting data for the past two years,
there have been nearly 750 police shootings statewide in the last decade. Nearly 430
of those shootings resulted in fatalities.

Phoenix police in the last decade would account for 243 of those nearly 750 police
shootings, data showed.

The state's 52 known police shootings to date this year and Phoenix police's 11
known shootings to date remain below records set in 2018.

With 117 shootings, 2018 marked the most police shootings the state had seen in a
single year since at least 2011 and, possibly, Arizona history.

It also marked a record high for the Phoenix Police Department, whose 44 total
police shootings in 2018 exceeded those in any other city in the United States.

'I'm sorry, sir': Video shows Chandler teen comply after officer shot him in the
back

Anthony's family looks toward healing

In the coming months, Anthony's family will have to face his 18th birthday in
November and their first holiday season without him by their side. 

While the Chandler City Council in June approved a $1 million settlement

to Anthony's mom, Renee Clum, it didn't resolve any of their family's heartache,
Eva Cano said.

"It's still hard just to accept that he's not going to pick up the phone and call me,
that he's not gonna just knock on my door and walk in. ... I don't think it's
gotten easier really," she said.
"The more I think about what happened, it just makes me angry, to be honest," Eva
Cano continued. "I was never able to understand the whys. ... I mean, that night, he
just wasn't given a chance. I think there were some really rash and ill decisions and
I think things could've been handled different."

Bebak-Miller has since been working at the department on a "modified duty

assignment." A Chandler police spokesperson could not explain what that involved
but said the department's internal investigation into the shooting was ongoing. The
case also remained under review by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, said
Attorney's Office spokesperson Jennifer Liewer. 

Anthony's mother, Renee Clum, plans to take time away from work to focus on
healing — particularly, helping her 13-year-old daughter heal from the sudden loss
of her brother, according to Eva Cano. 

"She did say to me this morning that the worst of this whole thing right now ... is
her daughter; the effect that this has had on her daughter is just unbearable," she
said. 

Whenever Eva Cano thinks of her nephew, she remembers their road trips
together. It hardly mattered to Anthony where they were going because he was
always happy to just tag along for the ride. He'd often sing along to the radio and
record silly videos of himself, she said. 

"He was just a goofball, always doing little practical jokes on you," she later added,
letting out a small laugh over the phone. "We have pictures of him but probably a
good half of them are goofy faces of something he was doing." 

Republic reporters Uriel J. Garcia, Bree Burkitt, BrieAnna J. Frank, Perry

Vandell, Jen Fifield and Emily Wilder contributed to this report.

Reach the reporter at chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on

Twitter @curtis_chels. 
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