Surveillance video captures Tucson mass shooting suspect open fire, get shot by police
New video shows moments Tucson mass shooting suspect opens fire
New video obtained by the Arizona Daily Star shows mass shooting suspect David Leroy French opening fire in Tucson, critically injuring nine people before being shot by an officer. FOX 10's Andrew Christiansen has the latest.
TUCSON, Ariz. - New video shows the exact moment that 21-year-old David Leroy French opened fire and critically injured nine people in the mass shooting in Tucson on July 19.
The backstory:
Several officers were patrolling the downtown district when they heard shots ring out in the 100 block of East Congress Street at around 2 a.m. that morning.
Police say that there was a confrontation between two groups who knew each other. After he opened fire, French ignored officers' commands and tried to run away.
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Timeline:
Video obtained by the Arizona Daily Star shows French with another man, and it looks like they either pushed each other or the other man was trying to get the gun from him. French can be seen firing his gun at least 10 times, according to police, and the other man runs away.
Tucson mass shooting suspect moments before opening fire
People sitting on the curb can also be seen running away, and in the background, people across the street are seen darting off and ducking down.
A bystander runs away after the Tucson mass shooting suspect opens fire
French looks like he is about to cross the street before coming onto the sidewalk. That is when police are first seen on the scene, and French is shot by an officer. Some officers stay with French while others run toward the victims.
Big picture view:
Some political leaders, like former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who is a shooting victim herself, are demanding changes to gun laws.
"We are at a crossroads. We can let the shooting continue, or we can act," Giffords said.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover agreed with the judge’s decision to let French off on standard probation.
"I’m not second guessing the judge here. At that sentencing hearing, he had a 19-year-old kid with absolutely zero criminal history from juvenile or adult," Conover said. "The employers supported him at his sentencing, his whole family, he gives a tearful apology."
Dig deeper:
The shooting happened in front of Empire Pizza. In an Instagram post, the restaurant said they are "disheartened to see the focus of this tragedy shift to gun control," and saying gun control has "zero applicability to what has been happening downtown."
Empire Pizza also blamed the shooting on the "astounding" number of violent criminals not being prosecuted. They uploaded the post after news broke that French has a previous felony conviction, pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon less than two years ago. He got four years of probation.
What's next:
French is facing nine counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, nine counts of aggravated assault with serious physical injury, and one count of discharging a firearm at a structure. Police say more charges could be coming.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Tucson Police Department, video obtained by the Arizona Daily Star, a social media post from Empie Pizza, local officials, and previous FOX 10 reports.