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George Michael Mireles

Age : 34

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/20/2021

Location : Amarillo Garden Apartments, 1223 S. Roberts Street

City : Amarillo

County : Potter

State : Texas

Agency : Amarillo Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after being mistaken for person sought on felony warrant

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/20/2021, Amarillo Police Department officers shot 34-year-old George Michael Mireles at the Amarillo Garden Apartments, 1223 S. Roberts Street, after mistaking him for another man police had gone there to arrest. Mireles survived the initial shooting but died at the hospital the following day, making 08/21/2021 the death date for this record.
At approximately 9:30 a.m., officers assigned to APD's Crime Prevention Unit were conducting surveillance at the apartment complex while attempting to locate another man wanted on a felony drug-related warrant. Police saw Mireles walking toward the apartments and believed he matched the description of the person they were seeking. Officers approached Mireles and attempted to identify him.
According to Amarillo police, Mireles then produced a handgun and fired at the officers. Three APD officers returned fire and struck him. The allegation that Mireles fired first comes from the police account; the later publicly available reporting located for this update does not provide body-camera footage, civilian video, ballistics findings or another independent reconstruction establishing the sequence of gunfire.
After the shooting, officers provided first aid and emergency personnel transported Mireles to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died on 08/21/2021. Justice of the Peace Debbie Horn ordered an autopsy.
Police subsequently located and arrested the man they had actually gone to the apartment complex to find. Thus, whatever occurred once police confronted Mireles, he was not the person whose warrant caused officers to be at the complex or whom they intended to approach when the operation began.
APD later disclosed that Mireles himself happened to have a recently issued warrant. Police Chief Martin Birkenfeld acknowledged, however, that the officers did not know about that warrant when they approached Mireles. It therefore was not the reason for the encounter and does not change the fact that police initially confronted him because they had mistaken him for somebody else.
Mireles was born 03/08/1987 in Garden City, Kansas, and was the father of four children. His family remembered him as funny and outgoing, with a strong interest in music, rap and breakdancing. He had once wanted to pursue music but instead devoted himself to fatherhood. Friends and relatives repeatedly remembered his distinctive smile and his ability to make people laugh.
Despite searching subsequent records through 2026, I did not locate a publicly indexed body-camera release, detailed prosecutorial findings, civil lawsuit, settlement or later independent reconstruction that materially resolves unanswered questions about the shooting. I also did not locate a reliable public release naming the three Amarillo officers who fired at Mireles.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Amarillo police disclosed that three officers fired at Mireles, but the available public record located for this update does not reliably identify those officers by name.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.amarillo.com/story/news/2021/08/20/amarillo-pd-releases-information-friday-morning-officer-involved-shooting/8211415002/
https://www.newschannel10.com/2021/08/21/update-suspect-involved-shooting-with-amarillo-police-officers-has-died/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2021/08/22/police-man-dies-after-exchanging-gunfire-with-amarillo-cops-who-were-seeking-different-man/
https://www.wbap.com/2021/08/22/wanted-man-killed-by-police-officers-who-were-looking-for-someone-else/
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Fatal-Police-Shooting-Texas-16402696.php
https://www.rectorfuneralhome.com/obituaries/george-mireles