PHOENIX (3TV / CBS 5) – The Phoenix Police Department released an edited body cam video showing officers exchanging gunfire with a 77-year-old homeowner confused about why the police were there. The shooting occurred at around 10:15 p.m. on June 29 in the Ninth and Turney Avenue area, north of Indian School Road. Investigators said the officers were in the apartment because of a burglar alarm system. They could hear the alarm go off, but they couldn’t see anyone nearby. An officer checked the outside of the house to see if the house had been broken into, but found nothing. The second officer knocked on the front door, but no one answered. He opened the door and said, “Phoenix police.” The sentence was repeated, but no answer. Phoenix Police say the homeowner fired first. After eight minutes an emergency service called the house, but no one answered. An officer tried to speak to a neighbor, but no one answered. Another eight minutes pass and a third officer comes. “My concern is that older couples may not be able to hear us,” said the second officer. “Right, I just can’t hear anything going on,” said the third officer. “I don’t want to go in there and this guy has a (expletive) .44,” said the second officer. The third officer yells “Phoenix Police” and knocks on the security door. A few minutes later, the house owner, 77-year-old Ernest Kaufmann, comes into the living room only in underwear with a gun. The three officers ran for cover. “Phoenix Police! Drop the gun!” shouted one of the officers. Kaufmann then went to the front door and opened fire, the police said. Two of the three officers returned fire and hit Kaufmann in the leg. He went back in and then came out without the gun. The officers handcuffed Kaufmann and put a tourniquet on his leg. “I can’t hear that well. I have a hearing problem. Why did you break into my house?” You can hear Kaufmann say on the body cam video. He was taken to the hospital where he recovered for a few days. Nobody else was hurt. Kaufmann was then released and could face increased charges of assault, police said. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and will determine whether a charge will be brought. The names of the officers were not made public. The two officers who returned fire both have more than two years’ experience with the Phoenix Police Department. Copyright 2021 KPHO / KTVK (KPHO Rundfunkgesellschaft). All rights reserved.
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