PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Newly released and edited body-camera footage shows the moment leading up to Phoenix officers opening fire on a man armed with a machete who held his wife at knifepoint at a westside apartment complex.
Phoenix police said they were called out to an apartment complex near 83rd Avenue and Indian School Road around 8 p.m. on Oct. 11, where an officer shot and killed 47-year-old Francisco Aviles Barcenas.
911 calls reveal domestic violence escalation
In a clip of the initial 911 call, the dispatcher is told that there is “a guy threatening to beat the crap out of his wife.” The emergency caller tells dispatchers, “He’s got a machete.”
The dispatcher asked for the address, and the woman provided incomplete cross streets, but ultimately figured out the general area. At that point, the caller stated, “He’s been harassing her. He’s ripped her shirt up.”
“Does he have the machete in his hand right now?” the dispatcher asked. “Yes,” the caller answered.
The woman on the phone with the dispatcher is then heard speaking away from the dispatcher. “No, the police are coming to get you. (inaudible) Good!”
At that point, the dispatcher asks the woman to go inside and separate herself for safety, but she states that she can’t because the door is blocked and that “there’s little kids in there.”
A second 911 caller claimed that Barcenas was “literally punching her and he has her on the floor.”
Officer fires multiple rounds after arriving at scene
Edited body-camera footage showed officers rushing to the scene, and one officer is heard running toward the complex.
“Get the f*** off of her,” he yelled. “Get off her now,” before firing off multiple rounds, striking Barcenas, who police said was holding the woman down on the ground with a knife to her throat.
The officer then reports a shooting involving law enforcement.
In the clip, the woman is heard screaming and crying as Barcenas lies underneath a set of stairs, just feet away from the front of an apartment door.
Police said the woman was treated for minor injuries and was released on the scene. No other injuries were reported.
Police said the officer who shot Barcenas was assigned to the Maryvale Estrella Mountain Precinct and worked for the department for about six years.
The shooting remains under an internal and criminal investigation.
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