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cop guns down 14 year old who was FLEEING

PilotsError

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2320

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Shot in the fucking back while running away.  The initial police story was later contradicted by body cam footage.  But don't worry, they're investigating themselves.  If the video doesn't post below, it's in the link.

In yet another display of government incompetence, a young boy has been shot and killed by police for having a toy gun.

On Tuesday in the town of Tempe, Arizona (a Phoenix suburb), a 14-year-old boy was suspected of stealing from a car. The boy, whom the family has identified as Antonio Arce, fled from the scene when the cops arrived.

As he ran, officers reported he was holding what appeared to be a handgun retrieved from the vehicle. Seemingly giving up, Arce briefly turned towards the officer – possibly to surrender.

89b80f22-3713-4d9e-9a3a-477649457a84-Off

Officer Jaen

The cop shot him immediately, killing him on the spot. Officials have identified the cop as Officer Jaen. 

Claiming that the boy ‘posed a threat’ and appeared to be reaching for a weapon, Officer Jaen claimed he feared for his life. That weapon? A harmless airsoft gun.

Many airsoft guns look like actual weapons, making it difficult for cops to determine at a distance whether the weapon is real or fake. But when dealing with children, the police shouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later. Especially when they have made the exact same mistake before.

Of course, the police department’s only tweet regarding the incident was to say the officer was safe, ignoring the young man gunned down in the street. 

We are working an officer involved shooting in the area of 48th Street and Baseline. The officer was not injured. We will be working in the area so PLEASE stay off of the area if possible. We will provide more details as they become available. pic.twitter.com/ReOIIevj00

— Tempe Police (@TempePolice) January 15, 2019

 

The Maricopa County Police Department has already launched an investigation into the shooting to determine whether it was justified. This investigation will be in conjunction with the Maricopa County Attorney’s office.  

At first,  the department refused to show any body cam footage regarding the incident, leaving the public in the dark. Many asked a simple question: if the cop truly acted in self-defense – against a 14-year-old boy with a toy gun – why won’t they allow the people to see it?

When the footage was finally released today, we learned why. It clearly shows the officer blatantly gunning down the unarmed teen as he fled.

Here is the shocking video.

 

 

 

 

Antonio’s family has demanded justice for a son they believe was taken all too soon. They believe that the police’s characterization of their son as a criminal is meant to dehumanize him.

“If they want to tarnish my son, they are wrong,” said Sandra Gonzalez, the boy’s mother. “Apart from the fact that they killed him, they want to destroy him,” she said. “No. I won’t allow it, I want justice.”

https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/arizona-cop-shoots-kills-unarmed-14-year-old-boy-as-he-runs-away-video/?fbclid=IwAR04jJYEX8l0XORC6kSkDIvUbq86LzhkaspyPZidaViPRZRLS291_7GpVPo

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SDG

SDG 3319

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1 minute ago, El Diablo said:

I guess the cop might have thought a suspected burglar who appeared to be armed and on the run might be a danger to society. Or as was mentioned, he was lazy and wanted to shoot somebody.

I mean he will get 72 hours to change his story but...

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Claiming that the boy ‘posed a threat’ and appeared to be reaching for a weapon, Officer Jaen claimed he feared for his life. That weapon? A harmless airsoft gun.

 

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52600

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8 minutes ago, SameSame said:

Shot in the back from distance while running away.   If that wasn't a cop they would have him locked under the fucking jail right now.

The accuracy makes me question if it was a cop.  Or if he was aiming somewhere other than the kid. 

Could one argue that being accurate from distance with a pistol is a sign of calm, and not the panic of fearing for your life?

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4th and 5

4th and 5 4915

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Bad shoot. I know this was not in Texas, so Texas law doesn’t apply. But I imagine AZ has a similar law. The one that would apply in Texas is below, and you can see in section (c) below. 


 

SUBCHAPTER E. LAW ENFORCEMENT

 

Sec. 9.51. ARREST AND SEARCH. (a) A peace officer, or a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction, is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to make or assist in making an arrest or search, or to prevent or assist in preventing escape after arrest, if:

(1) the actor reasonably believes the arrest or search is lawful or, if the arrest or search is made under a warrant, he reasonably believes the warrant is valid; and

(2) before using force, the actor manifests his purpose to arrest or search and identifies himself as a peace officer or as one acting at a peace officer's direction, unless he reasonably believes his purpose and identity are already known by or cannot reasonably be made known to the person to be arrested.

(b) A person other than a peace officer (or one acting at his direction) is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to make or assist in making a lawful arrest, or to prevent or assist in preventing escape after lawful arrest if, before using force, the actor manifests his purpose to and the reason for the arrest or reasonably believes his purpose and the reason are already known by or cannot reasonably be made known to the person to be arrested.

(c) A peace officer is justified in using deadly force against another when and to the degree the peace officer reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary to make an arrest, or to prevent escape after arrest, if the use of force would have been justified under Subsection (a) and:

(1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct for which arrest is authorized included the use or attempted use of deadly force; or

(2) the actor reasonably believes there is a substantial risk that the person to be arrested will cause death or serious bodily injury to the actor or another if the arrest is delayed.

(d) A person other than a peace officer acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction is justified in using deadly force against another when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary to make a lawful arrest, or to prevent escape after a lawful arrest, if the use of force would have been justified under Subsection (b) and:

(1) the actor reasonably believes the felony or offense against the public peace for which arrest is authorized included the use or attempted use of deadly force; or

(2) the actor reasonably believes there is a substantial risk that the person to be arrested will cause death or serious bodily injury to another if the arrest is delayed.

(e) There is no duty to retreat before using deadly force justified by Subsection (c) or (d).

(f) Nothing in this section relating to the actor's manifestation of purpose or identity shall be construed as conflicting with any other law relating to the issuance, service, and execution of an arrest or search warrant either under the laws of this state or the United States.

(g) Deadly force may only be used under the circumstances enumerated in Subsections (c) and (d).

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2320

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Phoenix area finishes off record-breaking year of police shootings

 

The record-breaking year of police shootings in Maricopa County snuck in quietly.

The first eight days of 2018 passed without incident. 

Then a Chandler police officer fired his gun at Allen Pedro after he allegedly dragged another officer while fleeing from a traffic stop. 

It would happen again on Jan. 10, when 31-year-old Isadore Deshon Byrd emerged from a pickup truck and allegedly pointed a BB gun at Phoenix police. Officials said they thought it was a handgun. Boyd was shot twice in the back. 

The circumstances in both incidents were different but ended the same, as had dozens of encounters involving suspects and law enforcement in the past year: with gunshots. 

Unprecedented year of shootings

Police shootings were a regular occurrence in Maricopa County in 2018, the last one occurring late Monday afternoon. 

There were 82 shootings involving law enforcement in Arizona's most populous county — nearly double the 44 shootings in 2017.

Phoenix police were responsible for more than half. 

Police work the scene of an officer-involved shooting that left the suspect dead and a Glendale police sergeant seriously injured, at the intersection of 43rd Avenue and Olive Avenue in Glendale on March 2, 2018. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic)

Twelve days were marked with multiple shootings. Three people were shot and killed by police in the span of two hours on one particularly deadly day in March. 

Phoenix police officers fired their weapons at 44 people in 2018 — a number that shattered records, surpassed significantly larger cities, generated national attentionand spurred an ongoing outside review. 

Twenty-two were killed. 

Most of the encounters involved a person who was known to be armed with a real or replica gun.

Phoenix police were involved in 21 shootings in 2017; 25 in 2016; and 17 in 2015. Mesa police also saw a sizable jump from five incidents in 2017 to 11 in 2018. 

The six-month stretch from March to August saw the vast majority — 76 percent — of the year's police shootings, records show. Law-enforcement experts have said the increase in those months is typical each year. 

Officials attributed the surge to an increase in violence against officers, but some activists blamed it on trigger-happy cops.

An analysis by The Arizona Republic showed prison history, mental illness and recent drug use were commonalities in Phoenix's soaring number of shootings.

The New York City Police Department — the largest in the country, covering a city of 8.5 million people — had 13 police shootings through November, a spokesman told The Republic. As of Dec. 10, Los Angeles and Chicago had 31 shootings, and Houston had 16.

Phoenix's total is significantly higher than the combined tally of 30 from the three most-similarly populated cities: Philadelphia, San Antonio and San Diego. They have recorded 12, 12 and six, respectively, The Republic found. 

Arizona had the second-highest number of police shootings in the country, bested only by California's 112, according to a database compiled by the Washington Post. 

Police sealed off a mile and a half perimeter in west Phoenix Thursday morning, hoping to trap the suspects responsible for a burglary and officer-involved shooting. (Photo: Krystle Henderson/ 12 News)

Police cite increase in violence

The surge in shootings pushed officials to commission a $149,000 taxpayer-funded outside review of Phoenix police-shooting data.

The National Police Foundation, a Washington, D.C., non-profit research group, has been working with the department and is reviewing shooting data spanning a decade. 

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams has refrained from commenting on the increase, instead pointing to the study. She said she hoped the findings would be released soon.

Officials seemingly attributed the increase to Phoenix's "violent population" in a recent New York Times article. Williams later said the article and headline "misrepresents" what she and other leaders believe about the spike in police shootings. 

She's been quick to defend her officers who have been accused of acting aggressively or escalating already volatile encounters. She's also pointed to an increase in assaults against officers. 

Three law-enforcement officers were shot and killed in Arizona this year — Nogales Police Officer Jesus Cordova, Department of Public Safety Trooper Tyler Edenhoferand Deputy U.S. Marshal Chase White. 

A Phoenix police officer was shot and critically wounded in a shootout during a traffic stop in August.

Surge leads to community outcry

Banners were dropped on freeway overpasses to protest police shootings in Phoenix, Nov. 14, 2018. (Photo: Courtesy of Poder in Action)

Local advocacy group Poder in Action has said city officials were complicit in the killings. 

Instead of additional money for guns and technology, a group spokesman said the city should invest more into their communities, primarily by better equipping officers to deal with drug and mental-health issues.

Group members also protested at council chambers in recent months and unfurled banners decrying the shootings from freeway overpasses and a downtown parking garage.

As 2018 headed toward its close, Poder in Action issued a travel advisory urgingminority travelers to exercise caution when visiting Phoenix during the holiday season. 

"As Black and Brown people, we know that the Phoenix Mayor and City Council has refused to hold the Phoenix Police Department accountable to residents, or take steps to end police violence," the group said in a December media release.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2019/01/01/maricopa-county-finishes-off-record-breaking-year-police-shootings/2444677002/

 

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2320

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and in 2019...

 

Maricopa County police shoot four teens in ten days

 

2018 saw officer-related shootings skyrocket in the Phoenix region with about 82 people shot in Maricopa County and more than 40 in Phoenix alone. Phoenix police shootings were the highest in the country in 2018 and triple the number of the previous year. This spike of police violence rolled on into the new year on Jan. 7 when police shot eighteen-year old Ismail Hamed, who just before being shot had disarmed himself.

Within less than a week after this first shooting, Maricopa County police shot yet another teen by the name of Jacob Michael Harris. Police allege that Harris reached for a gun as he was confronted. Shortly after, Harris was rushed to the hospital where he died. He was only nineteen-years old.

On Jan. 14, again just a few short days after the previous incident, police shot and wounded a seventeen-year old.

The next day on Jan. 15, the youngest victim, fourteen-year old Anthony Gonzalez, was killed by Tempe police in Maricopa County. This young man was chased and cornered in an alley where he was shot in the back. He was carrying an airsoft pistol, a nonlethal toy, that many teenage boys play with.

Gonzalez was the fourth teenager killed by racist police in just a few short weeks. We should remember that these four victims are teenagers either still in high school or just beginning their lives in the adult world.

When 40 percent of cops are involved in domestic abuse cases, much higher than the general population, it is no surprise that cops murder so carelessly for relatively minor crimes committed by marginalized people. Often times, as these cases show, there is not even a crime committed. In both cases of wanton murder and domestic abuse by officers, it is not uncommon for them to get away with their cruelty due to sympathetic investigators and courts.

It is also important to note that owning and carrying a firearm is not illegal in the state of Arizona. Far-right groups such as the Minutemen, Nazis, and new groups such as Patriot Movement AZ carry firearms to intimidate immigrants, Muslims, and poor people on a regular basis. A survey of terrorist acts in the United States showed that white supremacist forces like these groups are more likely to carry out violence than any other group in society. The police have never shot any of these people for owning and carrying a gun. That violence is apparently reserved for Black and brown people.

These types of tragic events will continue to occur unless resistance grows and strengthens. Until the police and the interests they are set out to protect realize that a peoples movement is unified in direct, organized action against them — until it is no longer a crime to be young, Black, Brown, Chicanx, Indigenous, or poor — only then will we stop seeing the systematic murder of marginalized people. It is clear that we are not being protected by police when it is our own families, friends, and neighbors being shot down.

Anthony’s and the death of every victim of police brutality should be recognized as murder. Neither Anthony or his loved ones should ever have to suffer at the hands of a force that claims to “protect and serve” them.

We demand justice and the imprisonment of cops that continue to kill throughout Maricopa County. In response to these events the Party for Socialism and Liberation, along with local activist groups and individuals willing to fight for justice, will be holding a protest on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Tempe Police Department near Arizona State University.

 

https://www.liberationnews.org/maricopa-county-police-shoot-four-teens-in-ten-days/

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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It's weird that people in fear for their lives suddenly turn into Marine snipers.  Unless I get 8 hours of sleep and no coffee, I shoot like a bad guy on the "A-Team", but apparently sensing you are just seconds away from death...you turn into Carlos Hathcock.  

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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5 hours ago, PilotsError said:

The initial police story was later contradicted by body cam footage. 

At what point do Americans wake up and confront the fact that cops are compulsive liars and simply can’t be trusted? The lies they tell even when they KNOW the cameras are rolling is simply astonishing. 

Bernard

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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9 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

*are

My bad. Typing while eating in a restaurant eating my first meal in 12 days. One police I’m OK with is Grammar Police. My mom is a teacher. I spent my whole youth having my spoken words corrected in real time. Listening to people butcher the English language day in and day out is painful. 

Bernard

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

Posted
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1 minute ago, Bernard said:

My bad. Typing while eating in a restaurant eating my first meal in 12 days. One police I’m OK with is Grammar Police. My mom is a teacher. I spent my whole youth having my spoken words corrected in real time. Listening to people butcher the English language day in and day out is painful. 

Bernard

The wife does it to me all the time friggin grammar nazi.

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MrPhlegm

MrPhlegm 3413

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and in 2019...
 
Maricopa County police shoot four teens in ten days
 
2018 saw officer-related shootings skyrocket in the Phoenix region with about 82 people shot in Maricopa County and more than 40 in Phoenix alone. Phoenix police shootings were the highest in the country in 2018 and triple the number of the previous year. This spike of police violence rolled on into the new year on Jan. 7 when police shot eighteen-year old Ismail Hamed, who just before being shot had disarmed himself.
Within less than a week after this first shooting, Maricopa County police shot yet another teen by the name of Jacob Michael Harris. Police allege that Harris reached for a gun as he was confronted. Shortly after, Harris was rushed to the hospital where he died. He was only nineteen-years old.
On Jan. 14, again just a few short days after the previous incident, police shot and wounded a seventeen-year old.
The next day on Jan. 15, the youngest victim, fourteen-year old Anthony Gonzalez, was killed by Tempe police in Maricopa County. This young man was chased and cornered in an alley where he was shot in the back. He was carrying an airsoft pistol, a nonlethal toy, that many teenage boys play with.
Gonzalez was the fourth teenager killed by racist police in just a few short weeks. We should remember that these four victims are teenagers either still in high school or just beginning their lives in the adult world.
When 40 percent of cops are involved in domestic abuse cases, much higher than the general population, it is no surprise that cops murder so carelessly for relatively minor crimes committed by marginalized people. Often times, as these cases show, there is not even a crime committed. In both cases of wanton murder and domestic abuse by officers, it is not uncommon for them to get away with their cruelty due to sympathetic investigators and courts.
It is also important to note that owning and carrying a firearm is not illegal in the state of Arizona. Far-right groups such as the Minutemen, Nazis, and new groups such as Patriot Movement AZ carry firearms to intimidate immigrants, Muslims, and poor people on a regular basis. A survey of terrorist acts in the United States showed that white supremacist forces like these groups are more likely to carry out violence than any other group in society. The police have never shot any of these people for owning and carrying a gun. That violence is apparently reserved for Black and brown people.
These types of tragic events will continue to occur unless resistance grows and strengthens. Until the police and the interests they are set out to protect realize that a peoples movement is unified in direct, organized action against them — until it is no longer a crime to be young, Black, Brown, Chicanx, Indigenous, or poor — only then will we stop seeing the systematic murder of marginalized people. It is clear that we are not being protected by police when it is our own families, friends, and neighbors being shot down.
Anthony’s and the death of every victim of police brutality should be recognized as murder. Neither Anthony or his loved ones should ever have to suffer at the hands of a force that claims to “protect and serve” them.
We demand justice and the imprisonment of cops that continue to kill throughout Maricopa County. In response to these events the Party for Socialism and Liberation, along with local activist groups and individuals willing to fight for justice, will be holding a protest on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Tempe Police Department near Arizona State University.
 
https://www.liberationnews.org/maricopa-county-police-shoot-four-teens-in-ten-days/
Maricopa trying to keep up wit Chicago n Baltimore.
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Constant

Constant 6755

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Not a reasonable shooting. The airsoft component shouldn’t be a factor. If you point an airsoft gun at me I’m not gonna stand there and try to figure out if it’s a Glock or a toy. Especially considering I work nights. 

However, you just can’t shoot someone fleeing that isn’t actively engaging you. 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105337

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Not a reasonable shooting. The airsoft component shouldn’t be a factor. If you point an airsoft gun at me I’m not gonna stand there and try to figure out if it’s a Glock or a toy. Especially considering I work nights. 
However, you just can’t shoot someone fleeing that isn’t actively engaging you. 

Agreed on both points.
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achooloco

achooloco 1086

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Posted
1 hour ago, Constant said:

Not a reasonable shooting. The airsoft component shouldn’t be a factor. If you point an airsoft gun at me I’m not gonna stand there and try to figure out if it’s a Glock or a toy. Especially considering I work nights. 

However, you just can’t shoot someone fleeing that isn’t actively engaging you. 

Damn out of pos rep

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Sandman

Sandman 3412

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20 hours ago, Bernard said:

At what point do Americans wake up and confront the fact that cops are compulsive liars and simply can’t be trusted? The lies they tell even when they KNOW the cameras are rolling is simply astonishing. 

Bernard

You're right. With those kinds of atributes, these people should be in congress.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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17 hours ago, BrazilHorn said:

I’m sure some of his fellow police will come forward to decry his actions. 

Or “furtive movements” and the old blue line will rule the day per the norm. Just a bunch of fucking liars and cowards. 

Kinda hard to come forward when all the people around you have weapons on their hip, and you have to go into dark alleys with them daily.  Has to be a pretty scary thing to do.

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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

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Posted
Kinda hard to come forward when all the people around you have weapons on their hip, and you have to go into dark alleys with them daily.  Has to be a pretty scary thing to do.
If that is a concern that prevents honesty from police officers, then it sounds like there is a massive culture problem in the law enforcement community.
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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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24 minutes ago, Eastwood said:
4 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:
Kinda hard to come forward when all the people around you have weapons on their hip, and you have to go into dark alleys with them daily.  Has to be a pretty scary thing to do.

If that is a concern that prevents honesty from police officers, then it sounds like there is a massive culture problem in the law enforcement community.

That's kinda my point.

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SDG

SDG 3319

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20 minutes ago, Buck Futter said:

Think of all the crimes that this kid will not be able to commit now.

You’re an idiot. No one here or in any of these threads has ever called the victims saints. What people here have a problem with is officers becoming judge, jury, and executioner when that’s not in thier job description.   

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2320

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Truck owner says both his guns were in the truck when the kid was shot.  

 

The owner of the truck where 14-year-old Antonio Arce was spotted before being shot and killed by a Tempe police officer says police have not been accurate in describing what happened that afternoon.

Lou Silvas said he was unloading items from his truck in the alley behind his house at about 2:30 p.m.Tuesday afternoon. He said he had left the truck unlocked and gone inside the house when he heard two gunshots from the alley.

Silvas said he went out to check on his truck and find his cellphone. At that point, he noticed that his two airsoft guns were still in the vehicle. 

He said he was shocked when he saw Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir tell reporters at a Friday news conference that Arce had stolen an airsoft gun from his truck before fleeing.

Silvas said he knew there only were two airsoft guns in the truck and that they hadn't been disturbed. 

Tempe police said 14-year-old Antonio Arce carrying a replica 1911 airsoft gun when he was shot by an officer. (Photo: Courtesy of Tempe Police Department)

The only thing he noticed missing was his large, black cellphone — which he believes the body-cam video shows Arce holding inside the truck right before Arce runs from the officer. In a photo police released, they circled the object and said it "appears to be a weapon." 

Police said Officer Jaen — whose first name has not been released — was responding to a report of a suspicious car, possibly used in a burglary, parked in an alley in a residential area north of Baseline Road and east of 48th Street.

Jaen sees Arce moving inside the truck, gets out of his patrol car and orders Arce to show his hands. As Arce runs away down the alley, body-cam video shows, Jaen stops and shoots at Arce twice.

Police later said one bullet struck Arce in his collarbone.

Checking the truck before police

Silvas said he thought in that moment after the shooting about removing the airsoft guns from the truck but noticed an empty police car parked facing him. Silvas, figuring he was being recorded, decided to instead wait by the vehicle until more officers arrived. 

Silvas said it wasn't long before a group of eight or nine officers ran past him. He recommended the officers check the fences in case the person shot jumped them, and one officer stayed behind to take his comments.

Another group of officers approached them not long after and ordered that Silvas be handcuffed and placed in a squad car. When he asked what he had done wrong, Silvas said officers told him he hadn't done anything wrong and that it was merely a safety precaution.

Tempe police said this image taken from the officer's body camera shows a person armed with a weapon. Police later determined it was a replica 1911 airsoft gun. (Photo: Courtesy of Tempe Police Department)

He said more than an hour later, he was released but made to stand outside his home while police searched it. Police had indicated in an initial report about the shooting that there may be a second suspect. No second suspect has since been mentioned by police.

Julie Ann Bravo, another resident of the home, said officers searched the property without permission or a search warrant. Bravo said the home's occupants — including a 71-year-old woman — were forced to wait outside until 10 or 11 p.m as officers conducted their search.

After the shooting, Bravo said she saw officers deploy a stun gun and handcuff Arce. Moir in her news conference said police officers arrived within minutes and "rendered aid" until firefighters could arrive and take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Bravo said she recorded the incident on her tablet and allowed police to take the tablet to copy the video for their investigation. After officers returned the tablet, which Bravo said was only a day old, she said it no longer would turn on and hasn't functioned since.

Silvas said a detective visited him the next day and asked him about the contents inside his truck. When the detective asked if there were any weapons inside, Silvas mentioned the two airsoft guns. 

Silvas said his truck has since been impounded and he likely won't be able to retrieve it until Tuesday.

Tempe police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Silvas' and Bravo's description of events. 

Moir in the news conference said two different witnesses reported seeing Arce running with a firearm. Police have not identified those witnesses or released their statements.

Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir addresses the shooting of a 14-year-old Antonio Arce by an officer at a press conference on Jan. 18, 2018. Thomas Hawthorne, The Republic | azcentral.com

A 911 call with fatal consequences

The string of events began with an anonymous call to 911 from a man saying a suspicious vehicle was parked outside a backyard. The caller told the operator that his home had been robbed the previous week and he was suspicious of anyone in the alley.

Silvas said he believed the callerwas a neighbor several houses away who had been in a dispute with Silvas. Silvas believes the neighbor called police about his truck so officers would give him a hard time.

He said Arce was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

"If he didn't call that 911 call, that young boy would still be alive today," Silvas told The Arizona Republic. "But I would be out a cellphone — because that's all he took outside of my truck was a cellphone."

The Republic knocked on the neighbor's door Sunday afternoon, but no one responded.

Silvas said he didn't blame the Tempe Police Department or the officer who shot Arce, saying the officer was doing his job and was working under stressful circumstances.

But, he said, he wants the record straight.

"If they're announcing on the airwaves that (the airsoft gun) was taken from my vehicle, that's not true," Silvas said. "Because I had my two still there — and that's all I'm saying."

The 911 call before the shooting of Antonio Arce, 14. azcentral, Tempe Police Department

A mother's apology

Silvas said Arce's mother apologized to him for the theft. He said that was the least of his concerns.

"I talked to the mother and told her, I said, 'Look, I can replace the cellphone, but I can't replace a kid,' " he said.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2019/01/20/victim-disputes-tempe-police-airsoft-gun-claims-shooting-14-year-old-boy-antonio-arce/2633956002/?fbclid=IwAR1lKfgccqWPTgwkx-Q4wPmqpQt2ITI7uMuKha1_dkqEwiuBoeXMBhF-2eE

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