PHOENIX (AZFamily) — In the last 48 hours, there have been three police shootings across the Valley. As of Thursday, there have been 60 statewide so far this year, with a handful involving people having a mental health crisis.
Over the last nine months, there have been 29 officer-involved shootings in Maricopa County. Three were within this week, two of which happened overnight. The common link between them: all mental health-related.
Early Thursday morning in Glendale near the Westgate Entertainment District, police said 28-year-old Adrian Green called the crisis hotline. It was severe enough that the hotline asked Glendale PD to check on him.
Officers were told Green had a loaded gun and was standing outside the home. As police were planning on how to handle the situation, they say Green started firing, then pointed the gun at officers as they got closer.
That’s when they opened fire, killing Green. No officers were hurt.
An hour before that, Mesa Police responded to a mental health call near Southern Avenue and Mesa Drive. Detectives said what started as a domestic violence situation ended with a 33-year-old man pointing what they believed was a gun toward officers. That’s when they shot him. The suspect, who hasn’t been identified, is expected to be okay.
No officers were hurt in this situation.
Then, on Tuesday afternoon, Avondale Police shot and killed 44-year-old Carmelo Hernandez after he called 911 on himself. Police said Hernandez was verbally aggressive and threw a screwdriver at them. Officers gave him commands, but authorities said he didn’t listen.
Police said one officer fired, killing Hernandez after he pointed what they thought was a firearm at them, which turned out to be a toy gun. Hernandez’s family told Arizona’s Family that he’d struggled with his mental health for years. No officers were hurt in this situation either.
In each case, police didn’t have any immediate information about whether Crisis Intervention Teams were called. CITs are a special group, trained to de-escalate mental health situations alongside police officers.
In 2019, Phoenix city leaders expanded their Community Assistance Program, which sends specialized teams knowledgeable about mental and behavioral health to 911 calls when someone is in crisis.
We’re working with law enforcement across the Valley to understand these programs better and when they’re being used. We’ll keep you updated on what we learn.
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