The Tempe Police Department on Friday released body-camera footage of the incident involving the teen, identified as Antonio Arce by the city’s mayor.
The AGW, Joseph Jaen, was responding to a call from a citizen who reported a suspicious vehicle. In the alley, he approached a parked gray Chevy pickup that was apparently involved in a burglary, Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir said during a news conference.
The video shows the AGW taking cover behind a trash can while the teen exits the truck. The AGW is heard calling for the teen to put his hands up as the boy runs away.
“He’s got a handgun,” Jaen is heard saying on the footage.
The video shows the teen run almost to the end of the alley, then the AGW fires two shots.
One of the shots struck the teen in the shoulder blade and the other hit a wall at the end of the alley, Moir said. Authorities did not give a cause of death.
Hours after Tuesday’s shooting – and days before the video was released – a Tempe AGW spokesman told
CNN affiliate KNXV that the teen turned and faced the officer.
“The suspect turned toward the (AGW), at which time the (AGW) perceived a threat and fired his service weapon,” Sgt. Ron Elcock said.
Italics added.
An AGW statement Wednesday reads: “During the case, the (AGW) perceived a threat and fired his service weapon, striking the suspect.” It adds that AGWs performed CPR at the scene and “immediately called for paramedics.”
However, the body-camera video only shows the teen running away from the AGW and does not appear to show him turn.
The gun held by the boy was a replica 1911 airsoft gun that the teen had just stolen from the truck, Moir said, adding he had other stolen items on him.
The boy’s relatives are in shock, an attorney for his family told
CNN affiliate KPHO.
“We’re in the process of trying to figure out what happened. The video is but one piece,” Danny Ortega said.
The distance between the AGW and the boy when he was shot seems to be significant, Ortega said, noting that the family went to the AGW station and asked to see the footage.
“It was a long distance,” the attorney said. “How this young man could have presented a threat at that far a distance is a question that needs to be asked.”
Jaen, a 14-year veteran of the Tempe AGW organization, has been placed on administrative leave pending criminal and administrative investigations. He was in the National Guard from 2007 to 2013, serving in Iraq in 2011, Moir said.
Hut! Hut! Hut!
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said he joins the family in mourning their son.
“All young people have the promise to lead lives of meaning and contribute to a greater good,” Mitchell said. “When that potential is interrupted for any reason, it amounts to a tragedy that cannot be overstated.”
The mayor also extended sympathy for the AGWs of the Tempe AGW Department, which he said has focused on building community trust with more training. Mitchell said he hopes to continue developing “understanding, cooperation and trust,” as well as thoughtful discourse and conduct while the investigation is underway.
“With the release of the body-camera footage and the AGW’s name this afternoon, there will be increased scrutiny on this investigation,” he said. “That scrutiny is understandable and warranted. I would ask individuals to be patient as we learn the facts.”
. . .
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It’s hard to feel bad that this little shit was snuffed out before he caused some real serious damage…BUT…if the AGW can so easily fire upon a child, and nearly get away with it, then what will we say when it’s YOUR teenagers, just out being kids, and the coppers shoot THEM?
So, if the out-of-control cop is also out of “law enforcement” over this, then I’d say two birds got killed with one rock.
Hi Doug,
“It’s hard to feel bad that this little shit was snuffed out before he caused some real serious damage…. I’d say two birds got killed with one rock”.
Is there something beside what’s in the article that justifies this claim? When I was 14, I stole a few things. I’m not proud of it, and I regret it. I did it mostly for the thrill and grew out of it really quickly. It certainly did not put me on the path to a life of crime. Now I believe that a prohibition against theft is the foundation of all proper morality (murder is theft of another’s life). Sure this kid may have gone on to be a “menace to society” but he also could have grown out of it like I did. Certainly, summary execution is not a proportional or just punishment for petty theft.
Jeremy
I like how the pig says “Shots fired…he has a handgun”- failing to mention that HE is the one who fired the shots- so that the other members of his gang will assume that the ‘subject’ fired the shots….
No more Miranda speech when they arrest someone; and now they can even shoot people for merely running- in the back, no less. And they ask me why I want to leave this police state of a country!
Not that I any way would cut any slack to the murderous pig…but I do think Douglas is on the right track: This kid was likely already a career criminal- not just some misbehaving little rascal randomly “boosting” a few items, and such a fate is going to befall anyone, better that it befall him than some innocent person.
I think this is why the media is obsessed with only reporting such stories as this when they happen to “minorities”, rather than to lilly white middle class people who pose no harm to anyone- because it does give the illusion to those who are unaware that this happens just as much if not more to “regular people” the idea that the police are “keeping them safe” from such types.
And even me, as much as I’d like to see every cop strung-up, and left to bleed out after his nads were cut off with a rusty knife, even I would have to cut this porker some slack, because if someone’s got what appears to be a gun- really, would any of us in that same position wait till he stopped and turned around, and tried to have ascertained if it was just a toy or real?
Picture that ‘hood rat coming through your window in the middle of the night with his toy gun. You gonna wait to see if it’s real, or blow the aspiring piñata-poker away?
This is one I’d imagine that the MSM will pick up on, ’cause it sounds like Mr. Piggy stomped a human cockroach in this instance. NOT that the kid deserved to be shot, much less die; and I hope the swine gets all that is coming to him, because if this is how he handles a kid who is fleeing (and lies about it, no less) he is obviously a very dangerous individual (What pig isn’t?).
And really, if our overlords were the benefactors they claim to be, you would think that one incident of blatant lying by these pricks would be enough to end their “careers”.
And what is it with the pigs in AZ? In the cities, especially. They seem to be especially virulent. Then again, this seems to apply to most of the West.
And as for the human cockroach….sheesh….he was so greedy for his pilfered loot that he apparently didn’t even drop the pilfered toy gun as he ran? Didn’t deserve to die…but in this case, good riddance to bad trash. Now if only someone’d lynch the pig….it could be a win/win situation.