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Daniel Shaver, unarmed man killed by Arizona police officer, cried and begged for life before shooting
Unarmed man killed by Arizona cop cried, begged for life
NY Daily News

BYJASON SILVERSTEIN
Updated: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 2:49 PM
An unarmed man who was shot and killed by an Arizona police officer in January cried, complied with police orders and begged for his life before the fatal firing, according to a newly released police report.
Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of Daniel Shaver, a 26-year-old Texas man. Authorities have declined to release Brailsford’s body cam footage from the deadly encounter.
But a report released Tuesday includes extensive description of the footage, detailing Shaver’s desperate final moments before Brailsford fired five shots at him with an AR-15 rifle.
Police confronted Shaver January 8 after responding to reports of a man pointing a rifle out the fifth-floor window of a La Quinta hotel.
The night of his death, Shaver had invited a man and woman at the hotel to his room for drinks, according to the report.
After some shots of rum, the man asked Shaver about a case that appeared to hold a musical instrument. Shaver opened it to reveal a pellet gun and dead sparrow inside. Shaver told them he was on a business trip with Wal-Mart and “his job is to kill all of the birds that get inside the buildings,” according to the report.
Shaver then briefly pointed the pellet gun out the window.
When police found Shaver, they warned him that he “may not survive” if he did anything that could be considered a threat, the report says.
Brailsford’s body cam shows Shaver appeared to making small jerking motions while he had his hands behind his back, according to the report.

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An officer yelled at him, “If you do that again, we are shooting you. Do you understand?”
“No, please don’t shoot me,” Shaver said.
At one point, Shaver’s hand appeared to move toward his waist. An officer was heard yelling, “Don’t,” before Brailsford fired.
Shaver was not armed. His hand motion appeared to be him “attempting to pull his shorts up as they were falling off,” the report says.
Previous reports have indicated Shaver may have been drunk at the time of the shooting — despite telling officers he was not — and possibly did not understand police orders. Shaver’s autopsy report has not been released.
Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and fired from the department. The new report reveals Brailsford had etched on his rifle: “You’re F---ed.”
Shaver’s widow and the mother of his two girls, Laney Sweet, posted a YouTube video Tuesday saying prosecutors are considering a plea deal for the ex-cop. The Maricopa County Attorney has not commented on the case.


Texas police officer fired for excessive force in shooting death of naked, unarmed teenager David Joseph
BY NICOLE HENSLEY
Austin police Officer Geoffrey Freeman had an array of tools to subdue a naked and unarmed 17-year-old boy without lethal force, but instead, he drew his firearm and shot David Joseph.
The Austin Police Department fired Freeman, 41, Monday afternoon in response to the February shooting that killed David — a Connally High School senior and son of an immigrant mother from Haiti — for violating its excessive force policies.
“Officer Freeman’s decision to draw his weapon when he exited his vehicle was unwarranted,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo wrote in a memo detailing Freeman’s disciplinary action for violating the Civil Service Commission rules.
Acevedo listed Freeman’s baton, stun gun, pepper spray, a bean bag shot gun stashed in the trunk and even physical force as ways to stop David without lethal force.
It’s unclear if Freeman, a 10-year veteran of the Austin force, will face criminal charges related to the Feb. 8 shooting. He has 10 days to appeal Acevedo’s decision.
“My family is glad to hear that Officer Freeman will not hurt any other unarmed black men,” David’s brother,Fally Joseph, said in a statement to KXAN-TV. “When he took my brother away from us, he stole something no one can ever give us back. We are glad to know that the City of Austin thinks David’s life mattered, and that Officer Freeman will not be on the streets again.”
Freeman encountered the teen — nicknamed by friends “Pronto” — running around a street at 10:25 a.m., blocks from David’s home in the city’s northern suburbs. Following several complaints from residents, the young black subject — clothed at the time — had been harassing residents, even chasing a man.
“Sounds like this guy could either be, he’s 10-86 (subject with mental illness) and losing it or high or something,” Freeman told dispatch.
Instead of waiting for additional officers per department policy when engaging with “subjects displaying symptoms of substance-induced excited delirium,” Freeman approached David alone. He stopped his cruiser within 90 feet of David and got out of the vehicle drawing his weapon.
David then charged Freeman, refusing to stop despite commands and within 6.7 seconds, the cop fired at least one gunshot, striking David out of sight from the cruiser’s dash cam footage. Backup wouldn’t arrive for another minute and a half.
An autopsy found no trace of gunpowder on David’s body meaning the teenager and Freeman were separated by several feet at the time of the shooting.
Additionally, a toxicology report determined David had traces of Xanax, anti-histamines and marijuana in his system, his family told KXAN-TV, but the results conflicted with Freeman’s belief David was experiencing excited delirium.

“No one was under a threat of imminent harm or suffering serious bodily injury or death by Mr. David,” Acevedo determined.

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