PHOENIX — Phoenix police say the man they shot Tuesday at a behavioral health facility in the West Valley is dead.
Police said they were called out to the facility in a neighborhood near 111th Avenue and Camelback Tuesday morning because the man was making suicidal statements. The man has not yet been identified by police.
“It was sad,” Aimee Nyirakanyana, the Angel Heart Behavioral Health facility manager said. “(For) Someone to take a life of somebody for no reason.”
Nyirakanyana said she was at the facility when this all happened.
“I was with him all the time, calling for help because he was going to jump out this window,” Nyirakayana said, pointing to a second-story window of the home.
Police said when officers arrived, they tried to talk with the man for at least 15 minutes as he stood at the top of the stairs. In a statement, police said other residents were on the second floor.
However, they said the man would not come down the stairs and would not allow officers to come up the stairs.
“He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to talk to anybody,” Nyirakanyana said. “But not wanting to talk to anybody doesn’t mean you have to die.”
Phoenix police told 12News in an email while more than 500 officers on the force that have gone through Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), none that were on-duty could respond to Tuesday’s incident because they were responding to other calls.
Phoenix police said the man pulled out a knife, and they told him to drop the knife.
When he didn’t, police say one officer tried to tase him.
Police said the man didn’t seem to be affected by the taser and took a step down toward officers, and another officer shot him.
The man, who was in his early 20s, died at the hospital.
“He’s a gentle guy, never aggressive,” Nyirakanyana said.
Terros Health confirmed to 12News that they also responded to this call as part of mobile crisis response teams dispatched by Solari Crisis and Human Services in Maricopa County. However, the police said they did not arrive before the officer shot the man.
Terros Health said the details of how long it took them to respond are protected by HIPAA laws.
A spokesperson for Solari also told 12News that specific information related to a call is protected health information.
However, Solari’s spokesperson said it is common for police departments to dispatch a mobile crisis team if the situation involves mental health symptoms.
The state health department did come for an inspection of the facility on Wednesday.
“Looking out for the health and safety of the residents is our top priority and a motivator for staff as they conduct investigations. This facility continues providing services while ADHS investigates from the perspective of rules and regulations that apply to licensed residential behavioral health facilities,” a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services said.
Currently, Phoenix police said the two officers involved in the shooting are temporarily assigned to home as the department continues to investigate.
Nyirakanyana believes this situation didn’t have to end with a man dead.
“I really don’t know what made them do this,” Nyirakanyana said.
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