Police release video of fatal Cottonwood brawl

[Sedona]

Source: Sedona Red Rock News

WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS NUMEROUS INCIDENTS OF ASSAULT AND A FATAL SHOOTING. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.

The Arizona Department of Public safety has released the dashcam video of the fatal shooting of a suspect in the parking lot of Cottonwood Wal-Mart on March 21.

A police officer was wounded in the leg and another suspect was shot in the abdomen. The fatal shot appears at time index 3:14.

A police officer was shot in the leg, two suspects were shot and one suspect was killed in brawl between at least eight suspects, eight police officers and store employee in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Cottonwood on Saturday, March 21.

Read more: http://www.redrocknews.com/news/13-top-news/11527-police-release-video-of-fatal-cottonwood-brawl.html

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Here you have a clusterfuck of a police action.

[840high]

1. Why did the suspects assault an employee?

Anybody know?

[Sedona]

3. They had locked/blockaded themselves in the Walmart restroom

and the employee was investigating

[840high]

15. Thank you.

[Renew Deal]

2. That just shows you how difficult being a police officer is.

That was an unbelievable scene. I don't know what's wrong with those people. Why would they possibly think it's OK to fight the cops? And it doesn't even seem like the motive it to get away. They just wanted to fight. Some people are messed up.

[Ed Suspicious]

6. That was the intention behind releasing it. Get people back to understanding why cops should kill

people. I'm sold.

[Renew Deal]

7. Yes. That's the only reason

You know it's possible to have two thoughts at the same time right?

[Ed Suspicious]

8. It is. And it was one hell of a fray. I thought the cops were less aggressive with the bullets

than they could have been. The people in the lot are straight up idiots. I'm just a little raw at the whole policing in America thing. You'll have to excuse my knee-jerk reaction.

[Renew Deal]

10. I don't blame you

I think we've all had it.

[Travis_0004]

30. If they didnt release it people would complain about transparency

Im glad rhey released it. More transparency is always a good thing.

[cynzke]

27. The Police....

wanted to separate the family while they interrogated them about the incident. The father and sons would have no part of that idea and started resisting. They probably figured one or more of the family was going to get arrested.

[NancyDL]

28. The Cops Hit First

Not that I'm blaming them. I don't think that small town police in the US are taught how to defuse situations so that they can be resolved without violence. From what I read in the papers, their philosophy is "If you meet any resistance, shoot".

[Action_Patrol]

29. I can't fault them on this one

Huge brawl. They tried to separate people at the beginning, which is what you do in domestic disturbances. The cops didn't shoot anyone until one of their own was shot.
They attempted batons and tasers. That was an awful scene no matter how you approach it.

[Taitertots]

39. Why don't you blame them for launching an unprovoked attack that caused a death and multiple ...

injuries.

[TekGryphon]

4. God what a mess. Meth is a hell of a drug.

Those people were out of their minds from beginning to end.

I'm not impressed by the officers' take down techniques, but these people were trying to tear the cops apart with their bare hands.

[Renew Deal]

5. The cops didn't fight together well.

They should have fought as a unit. Instead they were each getting attacked.

[TekGryphon]

9. I don't think they knew how to respond, and I don't know if I blame them.

This wasn't a couple of belligerent or aggressive people in a group.

It was an entire group of completely irrational lunatics who did not seem capable of understanding, much less complying, with a single order the officers gave. They didn't show even a shred of hesitation at launching themselves at the officers, trying to bring them down by sheer weight.

Either meth or extreme inbreeding - something was seriously wrong with these folks.

[XemaSab]

22. I'm sure this video will be used in many a future training

What a cluster.

[geek tragedy]

11. Like watching a zombie movie. nt

[TekGryphon]

13. That's disturbingly accurate.

Up-thread I was struggling how to describe the bizarre way they bodily threw themselves at the officers with not a single one of them comprehending any orders or even responding to physical force.

They really were like zombies.

Meth is a hell of a drug.

[840high]

16. Yes - my thought exactly.

[valerief]

21. Bingo!

[KingCharlemagne]

35. Or the Chicago '68 Democratic Convention (at the risk of dating myself) - nt

[geek tragedy]

38. No, that was a police riot.

This was out of control meth heads.

[KingCharlemagne]

40. The poliice in this video clip appeared to be out of control too, just

like the police in Chicago '68 lost all control. Watch video clips from Chicago '68 and compare them to this video clip and you'll soon see the similarity in police behavior. The Yippies and Hippies in '68 didn't fight back but these people did. Whether they should have fought back is, of course, a whole other question.

[Larry Engels]

43. They are too fat to be "meth heads."

[OldRedneck]

12. Cops showed a lot of restraint

Had I been one of the cops, I'm afraid the body count would have been much higher.

[Kelvin Mace]

20. If the shooters had been black

the cops would still be shooting.

[Novara]

25. Truth

Do you think the cops would have "showed restraint" had the family been black? If you do, you haven't been paying attention.

[catchnrelease]

14. Wow!

That was crazy! I described it to my husband as a mix of Keystone Kops, World War Z and X Files (some kind of possession)! I've been ranting about bad cops all day, but I might cut them a little slack on that one. A clusterfuck indeed.

[Catherine Vincent]

17. What a mess!

But I don't understand...when you see 2 guys fighting in plain clothes, were they family members or was one of them a Walmart employee? All those "get on the ground!" and nobody was getting on the ground. Very confusing.

[petronius]

41. I think the larger guy in the light clothing, involved in that goofy-looking brawl

in the foreground at about the minute-mark, was one of the Walmart employees. He left and came back in at least once, didn't seem to be helping much.

I think the woman in the blue windbreaker was another store employee - she seemed to show the greatest (only?) amount of common sense in the clip, except perhaps for the officer who was alone at the very beginning...

[blkmusclmachine]

18. I wonder the body count if that were a group of "blah" people? Likely much higher...

[Klong]

19. I watched the video two times

and I'm still not sure what happened. The cop in the car pulls up, but there is at least one cop present, all seems well. Next thing you know all hell breaks loose and two guys are pulling off there tops to fist fight. Cops are fighting too, it's like the wild west in this one. Must be a drug deal gone really bad or something.

[Marrah_G]

23. It's all one family that was camping out in the walmart parking lot for a few days

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/03/23/idaho-family-arrested-in-cottonwood-melee/70346668/

[yuiyoshida]

24. Just Nucking Futs!!!

[cynzke]

26. Christian Music Group......

from Idaho called Matthew 24. Like to sing about the end times.

[Enrique]

31. omg you are not kidding

that would have been one hell of a joke but amazingly it's no joke. by the way i wonder if they're any good?

[Brett Fitz]

33. What Happens When Police Confront Belligerant People Who Aren't Black

Arizona investigators have released dashcam footage of a recent brawl between Christian street performers and the police that left one person dead.

The encounter, which took place in the parking lot of a Walmart last month, involved Cottonwood police asking the Gaver family about an alleged assault of a Walmart employee. There were four cops and roughly eight members of the family present.

Needless to say, things escalated, and a fight broke out. One of the officers was hit by a bullet and another was put in a headlock. David Gaver was shot in the stomach and 21-year-old Enoch Gaver was killed.

According to the police chief, Enoch Gaver had taken an officer’s gun and shot him, and another officer tried to hit him with a baton, but when that didn’t stop him, he just shot Gaver with his gun.

If any of these "Christians" had been black, they would ALL be dead, the entire incident having lasted 20 seconds.

[Larry Engels]

44. One of these "Christians" was KILLED and another shot in the abdomen.

I'd call that "equal opportunity policing." As the horsethief video shows, police violence is not limited to black people.

[hack89]

34. The soundtrack alone is otherworldly. Wow. Nt

[nilesobek]

36. How is this any different

from other recent incidents of police brutality and murder cases? They speed dangerously into a parking lot, way over the speed limit, screech the brakes, slam their car doors, jump out and immediately go to arrest everyone.

I still haven't been shown how this family deserved to lose a member. I still haven't seen evidence that the family committed a crime of any kind, nor has there been any convictions. But people on this board have them tagged this family as meth addicts and so on. To be honest, I was rooting in the video for the family to overwhelm the police and take them down.

[Quantess]

37. "I was rooting in the video for the family to overwhelm the police and take them down."

Why? Are you against all police, all the time?

[Action_Patrol]

42. Ugh

"I still haven't seen evidence that the family committed a crime of any kind"

You mean OTHER than shooting a cop?

[Larry Engels]

45. How do you know that someone in the family shot the cop?

Source?

[Action_Patrol]

46. Source? You mean besides the video?

Who else do you believe shot him?

[Larry Engels]

47. Yes.

Or, can you point to a time in the video where you see this happen? Because I suspect the cop might have shot himself by accident.

[Larry Engels]

50. "At least three shots were fired in an apparent struggle for an officer’s gun."

http://wtvr.com/2015/04/12/christian-family-band-members-in-deadly-parking-lot-brawl-cottonwood/

[Action_Patrol]

51. It's hard to make out on video

That entire situation is out of hand but that cop was most certainly on his back. I don't doubt that there was a struggle for the gun, no clue if the cop pulled it or the other guy grabbed it out of the holster.
It's an awful scenario no matter what side you're on.

[Liberal_in_LA]

48. that was a crazy scene

[Turborama]

49. They are taking a virtual pounding on their FB page

https://www.facebook.com/Matthew24Now

[rainmaker21]

52. Weird video to watch.

It needs some Benny Hill music.

[ManiacJoe]

59. That version of the video is available.

[ncjustice80]

53. Wow did they really have to shoot the guy?

Cowards always reach for their guns first.More police brutality.

[GOLGO 13]

56. Yes, they did.

The one shot was struggling for the other cops gun.

[ncjustice80]

57. I didnt see that.

How do we know the cop didnt just shoot himself when he panicked? Seems more likely.

[Sunlei]

54. omg, the second wave of police came and started a riot of terror.

[GOLGO 13]

55. The family attacked the cops

Watch the video it's there to see.

IMO these cops were really soft to these people. They attacked the cops first. Then the family struggled for the gun and actually managed to wrestle it away before the Sgt (who was shot) managed to regain control.

The cops were over matched by 2-1 odds. Every cop had expended all their tasers on the family. They used pepper spray, deployed batons, punched & kicked the family & nothing worked. The family was so caught up in their rampage that they didn't even notice that 2 of their own had been shot.

The huge guy in the grey shirt was the Walmart employee and he saved those cops again & again. He repeatedly took on the most ferocious of the family members & kept them from wrecking those cops. If he didn't fight those cops lose this fight...badly. It appears he hurt his hands from fighting the family and got pulled out of the fight by his supervisor.

It took 4 of the cops to put the handcuffs on just one of the brothers. These people were 1000% committed to destroying the cops once the brawl was on.

[Sunlei]

58. the store security had all the people gathered by their car to wait for the police to arrive.

The police acted like brutal lunatics and escalated the situation.

[ManiacJoe]

60. Sure you watched the correct video?

The cops did not do the escalating. They just wanted to talk at first.

[GOLGO 13]

61. The first punch thrown was by the family member close to the family car on the left side of video.

He punched the cop in the throat. You'll then see the cop immediately puts his hand to his throat after he's been punched.

You see what you want to see.

[snooper2]

62. you didn't watch the video-

Comment discarded LOL

[Sunlei]

63. yes I did. I watched the police taze, mace, punch, hit and escalate the situation.