Last month, the Mesa Police Department reviewed two officers-involved shootings from the summer and determined that in both cases officers acted within department policies and training.
The suspects wounded by the officers in both incidents survived their injuries.
Both of the shootings included extraordinary circumstances, with one incident becoming a minor viral sensation online after Mesa PD released video of it.
The reviews occurred during the November Critical Incident Review Board meeting held at the Red Mountain station.
These meetings are meant to increase transparency surrounding officers involved shootings and include selected members of the public, although media are barred from the meetings.
Shots at fleeing suspect
The first incident occurred July 7 when a first-year officer observed a white Mercedes SUV exit a Circle K parking lot near University Drive and Country Club and began following him with its hazard lights on.
The officer was dispatched to an unrelated call but decided to drive back to Police Headquarters on Robson Drive after noticing the Mercedes was still following him, and now speeding up, then breaking.
As the officer opened the gate with his remote, the Mercedes began to ram the back of his vehicle, pushing the police car through the open gate.
The officer bailed out and rolled on the pavement before stopping and firing his 9mm Glock handgun at the Mercedes.
The officer then moved to cover behind a forensics van as civilian staff fled the area.
Taneysha Carter, 39, then exited the Mercedes and began running toward the now-closed gate.
The officer fired additional rounds as she fled. Carter fell on the ground and was then taken into custody and given medical aid.
Eleven rounds were fired in total, and Carter sustained one wound.
Mesa PD said they believed Carter was struck while still in her vehicle, citing blood on the car seat.
The CIRB summary states that Carter told police she believed “the Illuminati, Mesa PD, MCSO, and Phoenix officers were trying to kill her. She admitted to following the patrol vehicle to get the officer’s attention because of those reasons.”
Some of the online attention on the incident focused on the officer’s dramatic exit from the moving vehicle. One commenter joked that “Now the entire department has to have mandatory training about not jumping out of their patrol unit like they’re in a John Wick movie.”
The video has 40,000 views, making it the highest viewed video on the department’s YouTube channel.
More serious comments questioned whether the second round of shots fired at Carter was justified, claiming she was no longer threatening the officer with her vehicle.
According to MPD policies, firearms may only be used to prevent the escape of a “dangerous fleeing subject” who has killed or seriously injured someone, or a subject’s escape “would pose an imminent danger of death of serious injury to the officer or another person .”
A Mesa officer who fired two rounds at a vehicle as it fled a traffic stop in a separate incident earlier this year resigned after the department’s professional standards committee determined he violated policy.
In the July 7 incident at headquarters, Mesa police officials found the use of force justified.
The officer believed Carter “was attempting to gain unlawful entry to the holding facility with the intent of causing deadly force to unarmed officers or citizens” when she was running away, the review panel said.
Someone in the CIRB meeting pointed out that around this time, a bulletin was sent out about a citizen who angrily confronted a police employee in the Evidence Department about not having his gun released yet.
“It is important to know that is going on around this time frame,” the person said, according to meeting notes.
The officer was not found in violation, but received a month of “additional training and experience” with the department’s Advanced Training Unit.
Rooftop shot with AR-15
A Mesa police officer who fired his AR-15 patrol rifle at a surrendering suspect from a rooftop while wearing a gas mask was also cleared of department violations.
The shooting came at the end of an Aug. 22 standoff with Abdul Basit Ishan, who was armed and admitted to being under the influence of fentanyl at the time.
The incident started when a resident called police after returning home at night and discovering their front door damaged and someone inside the house.
When police arrived, Ishan fled the home, after which the resident realized his unsecured 9 mm handgun was missing.
A police helicopter identified and tracked Ishan as he jumped walls and fled, eventually attempting to hide in a laundry room in a backyard.
When Mesa officers and K9 unit from Chandler Police Department approached the room, Ishan fired at officers.
Chandler SWAT arrived on scene and neighbors were evacuated from the area.
Police sent a drone and robot into the laundry room to communicate with Ishan, who was hiding under a blanket. He fired the stolen gun at both of the devices.
The SWAT team next fired tear gas and a scene supervisor directed a Mesa officer to take a position on an adjacent rooftop with his AR-15. The Mesa officer was wearing a gas mask because of the gas.
Ishan agreed to surrender and pleaded with officers to give him water. He was instructed to come out with his hands raised and empty.
Ishan complied, but then started shaking out a hand and wiping his face, apparently still experiencing the effects of the gas.
Then he lifted up the bottom of his T-shirt and was shot once by the officer on the roof. He was then arrested and taken for medical treatment.
The CIRB concluded that the officer who fired the AR-15 did not violate department policy.
It did, however, recommend that the department “review current training protocols for shooting and deploying from an elevated position and to set training protocols for implementing shooting with gas masks on an annual or bi-annual basis.”
The CIRB report states that Ishan “dropped his hands towards his waist area.”
Someone in the meeting asked about whether the suspect was instructed not to wipe tear gas from his eyes while surrendering, and whether it could be included in future training.
A police officer noted in situations like these, “we normally provide single simple commands. Single simple commands yield great compliance.”
The next CIRB meeting will be in January. The term of one of the current citizen members of the board is ending, and the department is currently seeking a replacement.
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