Surprise police release shooting video, showing effort to talk down armed man

PHOENIX — The Surprise Police Department on Monday released body camera footage showing officers shoot a man armed with a knife. The incident followed a long early morning crisis negotiation to persuade him to disarm, the department said in a critical incident briefing.

The shooting occurred Dec. 11, 2025, shortly after 6 a.m. in a residential neighborhood near West Cactus Road and North 151st Avenue. Police responded to a 911 caller who reported an intoxicated man making suicidal threats while holding a knife to his own throat, according to the department.

The caller told dispatchers several children, ranging in age from 6 to 16, were inside the home and that the man had threatened to “kill anyone that comes in the house,” according to a department statement.

The name of the shooting victim was not released.

What the officer’s body camera shows

Body camera footage, narrated by department spokesman Sgt. Rick Hernandez, shows an officer negotiating with the man to put down the knife.

Over several minutes, the officer repeatedly urged the man to sit down and appealed to his concern for his children.

The man threatened himself and officers during the minutes-long exchange, the video shows.

“I want to kill you,” the unnamed victim can be heard saying on the body camera audio.

Hernandez said the man’s family called 911 a day earlier over a similar concern.

Officers use ‘less lethal’ rounds on suspect

When the man left the porch and walked toward police while still holding the knife, multiple officers fired less-lethal rounds. These rounds are described as tight bean-bag rounds meant to be painful enough to deter aggression.

Despite being hit with those rounds, the man continued moving toward officers, the video shows.

After one officer announced he was out of less-lethal rounds, another officer fired a single live round.

The video is blurred so it’s unclear where the victim was hit, though it appears the object in his hand slides across the street as he falls. Officers immediately rendered medical aid, including the application of chest seals, according to Hernandez. The man was transported to a hospital in critical but stable condition.

No officers were injured.

The shooting investigation continues

The Goodyear Police Department is leading the independent criminal investigation under West Valley Incident Response Team protocols.

Any findings related to criminal or administrative actions will be forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Hernandez said.

No conclusions on whether the officer’s actions were consistent with state law or department policy will be made until those reviews are complete.

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