The video does not show Godines being shot. The officer who shot Godines was in a vehicle, and body camera footage shows the interior of the car door and the officer’s left hand aiming a gun through the open car window.
The video footage police released on Tuesday is part of the agency’s “critical incident briefing,” which is made public after any police shooting or in-custody death. The briefings are narrated by officers and include edited compilations of body camera footage, dispatch audio and other information regarding an incident.
According to the briefing, the incident started at 10:45 p.m. around 27th Avenue and Van Buren Street when police saw a brown car exit a business parking lot at high speed. The officers alerted other police in the area, who then attempted unsuccessfully to pull over the car at 34th Avenue and Van Buren. When patrol officers lost sight of the vehicle, police said their helicopter started following it.
The car traveled to 43rd Avenue and Granada Road, where the driver reportedly got out while armed and ran up to a car yelling at that driver, who drove away.
According to police, the suspect got back into his car and drove to 60th Lane and McDowell Road, where he allegedly tried to carjack a second vehicle. That person also drove off.
The suspect then ran up to yet another car. The driver told police the suspect “slammed both hands on the hood of her car holding a gun and demanded she give him her car.” Two officers arrived, and both reportedly saw the suspect pointing his gun at one of the officers.
“That is when the suspect and one officer exchanged gunfire,” Lt. Vince Lewis said in the briefing video. “The suspect was hit and fell to the ground. The officer was not hurt.”
Three sources of video are shown in the briefing: body camera footage from the officer who shot Godines showing the interior of the police vehicle from which the officer fired; body camera footage from another officer arriving on the scene that shows the interior of a vehicle then a body lying on the ground; and security camera footage from a nearby house showing the top of a person’s head visible above a wall before gunshots are heard. No other video or audio footage from the apparent chase is included in the video.
In a media advisory sent on the day of the shooting, police said officers got the gun away from the man, though the briefing released Tuesday says the “gun was recovered near where the suspect was shot.”
Godines was taken to a hospital where he died from his wounds, according to police. The car Godines was driving had been reported stolen earlier, police said.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office opened a criminal investigation into the shooting, and police are conducting an internal investigation to determine if officers followed department policy.
Phoenix police fatal encounters in 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Phoenix police for nearly 30 months regarding patterns in use of force by officers, discriminatory policing and treatment of unsheltered and disabled people. Chief Michael Sullivan was brought in to lead the department in September 2022 as it dealt with the probe.
The city of Phoenix is publicly pushing back against any independent oversight sought by the U.S. Justice Department. But the recent resignation of the head of Phoenix’s Office of Accountability and Transparency is calling into question the city’s ability to watchdog its own police department.
In 2023, Phoenix police officers shot and killed 12 people, an increase from 2022. Fatal police encounters in 2024 include:
- Jan. 5: Officers shot and killed Junior Reyes, 30, after Reyes fired at officers, injuring one. Police said they were attempting to arrest Reyes, who was wanted on a felony warrant.
- Jan. 11: Officers shot and killed John Michael Lewis Jr., 43, in what started as a welfare check. Police said they tried to contact people in the house through the back door when Lewis produced a handgun. Police shot Lewis, and he was pronounced dead at his house.
- Jan. 27: Officers shot and killed Guy Vogel Jr., 42, after responding to a call that a store had been robbed and guns taken. Police found Vogel and a woman, who they believed were the suspects. The officers gave verbal commands and fired a nonlethal launcher at Vogel, who fled and then produced a handgun. Police responded by firing at and hitting him. Vogel was taken to a hospital, where he died from injuries.
- Feb. 19: An officer shot and killed Miguel Godines, 37, after reportedly seeing a car driving at high speed out of a parking lot. After a chase and apparent attempts by Godines to steal other cars, police said Godines pointed a gun at one of them. An officer then shot Godines, who was taken to a hospital and died from his injuries.
TJ L’Heureux
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