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Cellphone video captures Maryvale shooting
Phoenix Police say officers shot a woman holding a handgun in a west Phoenix neighborhood. A neighbor captured the tense moments on cellphone video as the Department of Public Safety investigates. FOX 10's Megan Spector reports.
PHOENIX - New details have emerged about an officer-involved shooting in a Maryvale neighborhood that left a woman hospitalized. Police say she was armed with a handgun before officers opened fire.
The backstory:
Around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday near 73rd and Sells drives, Phoenix Police responded to calls of a person with a gun. With help from a police helicopter, officers spotted a woman walking in the street holding a handgun.
Tense moments in the west Phoenix neighborhood were captured on a neighbor’s cellphone on Nov. 11.
Phoenix officers shoot woman in Maryvale neighborhood
Police say officers shot an armed woman on Wednesday night in a Maryvale neighborhood near 75th Avenue and Sells Drive, between Camelback and Indian School roads. No officers were hurt.
What they're saying:
Neighbors say the chaos started with a police helicopter circling overhead and ended with gunshots right outside their homes.
"Move away from it. Once again, we don’t want to hurt you. Drop the gun," an officer could be heard saying in video from the scene.
Police haven’t said why officers opened fire, only confirming that after issuing commands, one officer fired a 40-millimeter less-lethal launcher and another fired their duty rifle, striking her. According to police, because the gun was still in her reach, officers deployed a K9 to help take her into custody.
"I watched this all happen right in front of my eyes," a neighbor said.
One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, watched the entire encounter from his front yard.
"All of a sudden, I go to the front of my home and I see this person pacing back and forth," the neighbor said. "This person was not listening to any of the commands that the helicopter was saying. The officer just shot her and all of a sudden the dogs came and got her."
He didn’t recognize the woman, but said it was clear she wasn’t in her right mind.
"The way it happened, there has to be different ways for managing mental crisis issues," the neighbor said.
Police say a woman armed with a handgun was taken to the hospital after being shot by an officer near 73rd Drive and Sells. The Department of Public Safety is investigating the incident.
What's next:
This incident is now under investigation by the Department of Public Safety, along with an internal investigation by the Phoenix Police Department.
"The factors that led up to it, it’s going to be investigated by the Department of Public Safety’s major incident division, so we’re still going through that process," said Phoenix Police Sgt. Chris Berrelleza.
Phoenix Police confirmed no officers or other community members were hurt. The woman was taken to the hospital, though no update has been given on her condition.
Map of the area where the shooting happened
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Phoenix Police Department.