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(NSFW) Phoenix Officer Forced to Shoot in Suicide by Cop Incident
Published 2 years ago
Body worn camera footage released by the Phoenix Police Department shows 22-year-old Matthew Begay forcing officers to shoot him inside of a group home in the area of 111th Avenue and Camelback Road.
On July 19, 2022, officers from the Phoenix Police Department responded to a man in distress at a local group home. In the 911 call, it was apparent that 22-year-old Matthew Begay was experiencing serious suicidal thoughts and it was reported that he had attempted to jump out of a second story window. Members of a crisis response team were contacted, and police were informed that the team was 25 minutes away from being able to respond.
At about 10:12 a.m., The first two officers arrived at the group home and spoke with the caller who directed them to Matthew inside the home. Upon trying to move to the second story, they encountered Begay at the top of the stairs blocking their path. Begay was confrontational for the duration of the engagement, and was captured on the body worn camera saying that he wanted to die. Other officers on the scene then attempted to escalate the crisis response team's arrival, but they were told that no units were available for them at that time.
Seeing that Begay had a knife, the officers created space and tried to continue to talk Begay down. While maintaining a lethal option, the second officer deployed a Taser. The Taser system failed to stop Begay from advancing on the officers, forcing the first officer who was maintaining a lethal force option to discharge his duty weapon into Begay.
Officers then provided life-saving aid on Begay until the Phoenix fire department arrived on the scene to transport him to a nearby medical facility. At the medical facility, Begay would later be pronounced dead. This incident is the subject of both an internal and a criminal investigation, which will be reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
