Bodycam Footage Shows Phoenix Police Officers Shooting Armed Woman Outside Motel

KEY POINTS

As the officers attempted to detain her, the woman pulled out a gun and fired
The officers returned fire, striking the woman twice
She was charged with three counts of aggravated assault

An edited video that showed officers shooting an armed woman outside a motel was released Wednesday by the Phoenix Police Department.

On July 8, a person called 911 and informed them he had kicked out his roommate, later identified as 24-year-old Jovanna Kelsey McCreary, because she was "becoming crazy." The person added McCreary then shot a gun outside.

The officers responded to the scene and met the caller, who spotted the woman near a parking lot and directed the officers to her. However, when the cops confronted the woman, she denied having a gun.

After speaking to her for almost 7 minutes, the officers checked her bag with her permission and found ammunition and drugs.

"While speaking to the woman, it was discovered she had a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest and what were believed to be illegal drugs in her bag. As the officers attempted to detain her, she struggled to get away and pulled out a handgun from her waist area. As the struggle continued, McCreary fired the gun, narrowly missing the officers. Two officers returned fire. McCreary was struck twice, dropping the gun as she fell to the ground," Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department said in the video.

She was then taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Following her discharge, she was taken into custody and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count each of resisting arrest, weapons misconduct and drug possession. She was being held at Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail.

On Wednesday, the Phoenix Police Department released a video that included body-camera footage.

Thompson said the two officers were assigned to the Cactus Park Precinct's patrol division. While one of them is a 58-year-old man with 29 years of service, the other officer has been with the Phoenix Police Department for 14 years.

"The incident is the subject of both an internal and a criminal investigation, which will be reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office," Thompson said in the video.