Bodycam shows Arizona SWAT team shoot fleeing suspect dead after he points gun at K-9’s head

Newly released dramatic bodycam video shows what happened when a suspect fleeing Arizona police allegedly pointed a gun at the head of a K-9.

Cops were on the lookout for Francisco Javier Galarza, 49, who reportedly had felony warrants for home invasion and a bank robbery. Tucson police officers in the SWAT team located him shortly before noon local time at a Circle K convenience store/gas station and attempted to arrest him outside.

Based on the brief video, instead of following officers’ commands to get down, Galarza began to flee on foot from the parking lot in the August 25 encounter.

“Take him here,” one of the officers said to his colleagues in the audio as Galarza exited the store.

When the man attempted to escape, an officer can be heard shouting “runner, runner, runner.”

According to AZCentral, “Officer Barrie Pedersen released his police dog, Kiro, to apprehend Galarza and brought him to the ground, according to police. Police said that while Galarza was on the ground, he pointed his gun at officers Ernest Ortiz and Pedersen which prompted officers to shoot at him.”

An officer can also apparently be heard saying “gun” before they discharged their weapons.

Watch (Warning — the video is graphic):

Pedersen and Ortiz reportedly have 15 and 17 years of law enforcement experience, respectively.

Cops rendered first aid to the suspect until EMTs arrived. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

There were no other injuries in this incident.

Authorities said that Galarza allegedly had a Taurus G3 9mm semi-automatic handgun with one round in the chamber and with more ammo in his possession.

The incident is currently subject to multiple investigations including by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and Tucson PD’s Office of Professional Standards.

With the probe ongoing, authorities have cautioned that more facts are likely to emerge as they gather and analyze all of the evidence in assessing the actions taken and whether they “were consistent with [Tucson PD] policies and the law.”

In the end, the Pima County Critical Incident Team will present the findings to the Pima County Attorney for review.

Galarza reportedly had a long rap sheet. Citing Arizona Department of Corrections data, Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD, News13, claimed that this included convictions for drug possession, car theft, and armed robbery.

Below is a longer video of this incident that includes some slow-motion footage:

All suspects are presumed innocent until or unless they are convicted in a court of law of any alleged crimes.

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Robert Jonathan

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles