Phoenix police officer recalls night of shooting that killed colleague Carnicle

PHOENIX — It was a night on duty that Phoenix Police officer Alicia Hubert will never forget.

“I knew there were gunshots and I knew the feeling in my foot was likely a bullet,” Hubert said during a press conference at Phoenix Police Headquarters on Thursday.

“When I landed on the ground I remember tasting copper in my mouth, so I knew I had been shot in the back.”

She was the initial officer on the scene to speak with the 22-year-old suspect, Jacob Emry Mcilveen on Sunday, March 29.

Officers were called to the home near 40th drive and Pinnacle Peak Road after his roommates called police because of a fight.

“Aside from him not wanting to come down stairs, there was no blaring indication of what we were walking into,” Hubert added.

“None of us were expecting what happened to happen.”

That’s when Officers Hubert and Marissa Dowhan followed Commander Greg Carnicle up the stairs inside the north Phoenix home.

“As we were walking up the stairs, I just remember hearing really loud bangs,” Hubert said. “Somehow Marissa and I ended up jumping off the staircase.”

When she landed on the first floor of the home, Hubert says three other officers inside the residence immediately rushed to her aid.

“There was no question people were coming – I never worried that they wouldn’t come for me,” Hubert added.

She said she fully believes Commander Carnicle assisted in saving her life.

Hubert then recalled laying in the kitchen when she heard someone say his name.

“That broke me out of the, ‘I’ve been shot’ and it moved it to – ‘other people have also been shot,’ Hubert continued.

“Just that thought got me crawling.”

That’s when her partner entered the residence, grabbed her by the vest and dragged her out to safety.

Checking her for bullet wounds, he saw Hubert’s back and informed her that the bullet had not produced an exit wound.

He then put her in the back of a patrol car and drove her to the hospital himself.

Born into a law enforcement family, both Hubert’s mother and father served in the Phoenix Police Department.

Her father Paul joined her during the press conference and described “one of the worst phone calls” upon learning his daughter had been shot.

“Our thoughts were expecting the worst, but we were hoping for the best,” he said.

While he drove to the hospital with Alicia’s mother and his wife, he said he got a call from a friend who had seen Hubert enter the hospital.

“They said she was alive, she was well – she winked and gave a thumbs up to a friend of mine,” He added.

“I knew at that point that she was, physically, at least, going to be okay.”

Just weeks before the shooting, Paul gave his daughter a metal plate to add to her bulletproof vest. She was shot in the back where that plate had been placed — which had helped to slow the bullet.

Paul was asked about his relationship with his former colleague Commander Carnicle.

“It’s one of those strange relationships between being so happy and so sad and so grateful that Alicia was going to recover,” Paul replied.

“But still so sad for a very good friend who did not make it.”

Hubert described Commander Carnicle as a leader, adding: “It was an honor to follow him, it was an honor to be one of his officers – I would have followed him anywhere and I still would.”

April marks Hubert’s eighteenth month in the Phoenix Police Department.

“I miss work a lot,” Hubert said.  “I can’t wait to go back.”

“I love my job and to me this is just hopefully a time that I can improve myself as an officer.”

Hubert is currently recovering and does not have a definitive return date to work.

When asked what her message would be to other young officers, Hubert told KTAR News 92.3 FM: “Fear has its time and has its place, but our courage is why we’re police offiicers.”

The Phoenix Police Department said that Hubert’s colleague Officer Dowhan is doing well and recovering at a rehab medical facility for her injuries.

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