PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Newly released police footage and 911 calls are providing new details about a deadly officer-involved shooting at a townhome complex in west Phoenix earlier this month.
The shooting happened on March 15 and ended with the death of 36-year-old Justin Carl Schmidt, according to authorities.
At about 6 a.m., officers responded to a report about a fight at the complex near 43rd Avenue and Medlock Drive, just north of Grand Avenue. The newly released 911 audio reveals several neighbors calling for a welfare check.
“This guy is, like, yelling at the top of his lungs,” one caller said. The girl’s crying, and I keep hearing things get tossed around.”
Investigators said Schmidt, a woman and the woman’s young daughter were inside the apartment. Body camera video shows officers speaking with a woman on a locked patio. She told them Schmidt had the key.
As officers worked to open the gate, one officer can be heard saying, “He just cocked a gun,” before officers rushed through the gate and entered the patio area with their weapons drawn.
One officer then pulled the child from the patio and ordered Schmidt to put the gun down before officers backed out of the area.
A perimeter was set up, and a drone was deployed to watch the door. Police say Schmidt opened fire on the drone, disabling it.
As officers waited for more units, they heard apparent gunshots and said “shot out the window” before the recording officer is seen firing one round from his rifle.
SWAT crews later sent in two more drones and found Schmidt on the second level of the townhome next to two long guns. They entered and confirmed he had died.
No one else was injured.
The officer involved has about three years of service with the department.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the shooting, and the Phoenix Police Department is conducting an administrative review.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence is urged to contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
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