The Phoenix Police Department has released footage from an officer’s body camera showing the officer shooting and killing a drunk driver after the driver and another officer got into a fight over a gun.
The footage was released by the Phoenix police. In the first video, an officer and the driver try to grab a gun. In the second video, an officer kills 36-year-old Matthew Anthony Sansotta by shooting him in the head.
Here is the link to the shocking video.
On February 25, police in Phoenix, Arizona, heard that a driver near Central Avenue and Bell Road was allegedly drunk.
A worried citizen called the police to say that they saw a car driving erratically on the road and the driver taking what looked like a sip from a booze container while driving.
The caller then followed the driver to a nearby apartment complex, where he waited for police to arrive. When they came, they found a male driver sleeping in his car. Inside the vehicle, they found a bottle of alcohol and a gun.
Officers said that the man seemed drunk, but he was cooperative when they started asking him questions. The officer went back to the patrol car while the other officer searched the driver and found a gun in his side door pocket.
After the man apparently made a sudden move to grab the gun, a fight broke out. The man was able to retrieve his gun. The second officer fired one shot and the driver fell over. The officers tried CPR, but could not revive him. At a nearby hospital, the man was pronounced dead.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is investigating the fatal shooting. The police say that no officers were hurt during the chaos.
It was the third time in a week that police in Phoenix had killed a suspect by shooting them. The first two incidents occurred on February 22, in the afternoon, on the same day.
The Phoenix Police Department has been involved in nine shootings this year. Officials say this is because there have been more violent crimes in the area.