New video shows Scottsdale police shoot woman armed with gun in lobby

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Scottsdale Police sergeant shot a woman inside the lobby of the McKellips District Station on April 30 after she entered with a backpack and pulled out a handgun.

What we know:

Scottsdale Police said the officer-involved shooting happened inside the lobby at the McKellips District Station on the morning of April 30 at around 9:46 a.m. 

A woman entered the lobby with a backpack and pulled out a handgun. Officers said she walked toward the information window and pointed the gun at the police aid, who was sitting behind protective glass. 

The police aid was able to get away from the woman and call for help.

"I have a subject in the lobby here with a gun pointed at the window," audio from that call revealed. "And there's a person at the vehicle impound window." 

The suspect, identified as 23-year-old Eva Josefina Garcia, then walked over to the vehicle impound window, pointing the handgun at the man there, cornering him and making him unable to escape, according to police. 

"She has the person at the impound window at gunpoint," the caller said. 

Dig deeper:

Officers inside the McKellips station responded to the situation, demanding Garcia to drop the gun. Another officer could be heard on body camera video saying that she was loading the handgun.

One sergeant was able to get into a small hallway between doors that separated the lobby, where "an innocent man" was, police said. 

That's when the sergeant demanded the woman to drop the gun. When she instead pointed it at the sergeant and responding officers. The sergeant, described by the department as a 32-year law enforcement veteran, then shot Garcia to stop the threat. They took her handgun and rescued the man in the lobby. 

Police said Garcia was taken to the hospital, where she stayed for 12 days in protective custody. After her release, she was booked into jail on several felony charges, including attempted homicide, aggravated assault on an officer, aggravated assault on an employee of a law enforcement agency, kidnapping- fear of injury, aggravated assault– innocent citizen, and disorderly conduct- recklessly handle, display, or discharge a firearm.

 Garcia was held on a $850,000 cash-only bond.

What they're saying:

"She wanted to shoot the officer," former police officer and prosecutor Dan Losey said." I'm assuming. And the gun didn't fire, it malfunctioned or something. So she pulled the slide and then did it again. That's a clear indication that this woman pulled the trigger and tried to shoot."

Losey said given the threat to lives, the officer acted appropriately. 

"We need to protect lives. And if often that means incapacitating the person with the weapon, you try to give them commands first so you don't have to shoot up," Losey said. "And they tried that five times. She didn't comply with any of them and that's why I say this was absolutely an appropriate shooting from what I see."

Often for police officers, the crisis comes to them.

"Rather than talk it out with a suspect, like a lot of times in negotiations we can do, you don't have the advantage in time to do that because, at any moment they could hurt the innocent person that's in the lobby with them," John Antrim, a former cop and the owner of Negotiators Edge said. "Puts added pressure on that officer that they need to come to a resolution quickly."

But widespread training for an armed suspect inside that space is rare.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see police agencies have a lot more discussion what kind of training they may put in a place, because if it happened there, it could happen here," Antrim said. 

What we don't know:

The woman's motive, and the events leading up to the incident, remain unknown.

What's next:

Scottsdale Police are investigating the sergeant's use of force. Mesa Police is conducting an officer-involved shooting investigation. 

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is conducting an internal and criminal investigation. 

Crime and Public SafetyScottsdaleNews