Search fatalities

Francisco Javier Galarza

Age : 49

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/25/2022

Location : Circle K, 6090 South Park Avenue

City : Tucson

County : Pima

State : Arizona

Agency : Tucson Police Department

Officer(s) :Barrie Pedersen; Ernest Ortiz

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during attempted arrest on felony warrants

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/25/2022, Tucson Police Department SWAT officers Barrie Pedersen and Ernest Ortiz shot and killed 49-year-old Francisco Javier Galarza outside the Circle K at 6090 South Park Avenue in Tucson. SWAT officers and detectives had been conducting surveillance on Galarza before approaching him to make an arrest.
.
Police were seeking Galarza on active felony arrest warrants connected to a home invasion and multiple bank robberies in the Tucson area. Officers had located Galarza and were watching him at the Circle K rather than responding to an unfolding crime at the store. At approximately 11:51 a.m., officers moved in as Galarza exited the business.
.
Body-camera footage released by the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team shows officers rapidly exiting an unmarked vehicle with weapons drawn and ordering Galarza to get on the ground. Galarza immediately ran across the parking lot. Police reported that as he ran, he removed a black handgun from a bag he was carrying.
.
Pedersen, a Tucson police K-9 officer assigned to SWAT, released his police dog Kiro to apprehend Galarza. Kiro chased Galarza and brought him to the ground. Video released after the shooting shows Galarza producing the handgun as the dog takes him down.
.
Police alleged that while Galarza was on the ground, he pointed the handgun toward Pedersen and Ortiz. The released footage appears to show Galarza raising the weapon in the officers' direction immediately before they opened fire. Pedersen and Ortiz both fired their weapons, striking Galarza.
.
Investigators recovered a Taurus G3 9mm semiautomatic handgun from beside Galarza. Police reported that the magazine contained ammunition and that a round was in the chamber. The available accounts of the shooting do not report Galarza firing the handgun during the encounter.
.
Officers provided medical aid until Tucson Fire Department personnel arrived. Galarza died at the scene. The Pima Regional Critical Incident Team investigated the shooting, with the Pima County Sheriff's Department and Marana Police Department assigned primary responsibility for the criminal investigation. Tucson Police Department's Office of Professional Standards conducted a separate administrative investigation into the officers' actions.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
.
Barrie Pedersen had served with the Tucson Police Department since 2004 and had approximately 17 years of service when he killed Galarza. Pedersen served as a K-9 handler, K-9 Unit trainer and SWAT officer. He was named Tucson Police Department Officer of the Year in 2019 and previously received the department's Medal of Merit.
.
Pedersen was involved in another police shooting less than six months after Galarza's death. On 02/14/2023, Tucson police responded to a mental-health crisis involving 29-year-old Jacques Taylor. Police found Taylor walking on South Kolb Road while armed with a handgun. After approximately 15 minutes of telephone negotiation, Pedersen fired one rifle round and struck Taylor. Taylor survived with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
.
Ernest Ortiz had approximately 15 years with the Tucson Police Department when he killed Galarza. Galarza was not Ortiz's first fatal police shooting.
.
On 09/10/2018, Ortiz and Tucson Police Sergeant William Corrales shot and killed 53-year-old Joel R. Andrade during a domestic-violence response and prolonged mental-health barricade. Police reported that Andrade had locked himself in a bathroom, cut his own neck and asked officers to kill him. After approximately two hours of negotiation, police alleged that Andrade emerged and raised a rifle toward officers. Ortiz and Corrales then fired, killing Andrade.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.kold.com/2022/09/24/update-authorities-release-video-officer-involved-shooting-tucson/
https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/footage-released-of-fatal-shooting-by-tucson-police/article_7835fa12-3bac-11ed-b44f-078d16fd8639.html
https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/police-officer-involved-shooting-on-south-park-avenue-thursday
https://www.kold.com/story/39064605/heavy-police-activity-near-ajo-way-6th-avenue/
https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/police-identify-gunman-slain-by-officer
https://www.kold.com/2023/02/14/tucson-police-investigate-officer-involved-shooting-near-kolb-road-29th-street/
https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/bodycam-footage-released-from-officer-involved-shooting-in-tucson