An officer-involved shooting occurred on November 23, 2022, shortly after 11:57 a.m, in the 2900 Block of East Folley Place, in the City of Chandler.
The Chandler, Arizona, police department has made public a graphic body cam footage depicting an incident in which an armed man, subsequently determined to be Cody Allan Smestad, age 30, was shot and killed by an officer while the officer was investigating a possible home invasion.
On November 23, just before noon, officers responded to a report of a probable break-in at a residence located on East Folley Place close to the intersection of Gilbert and Frye roads. A resident who wasn’t home at the time but whose video cameras detected motion dialled 911 after seeing an unidentified automobile parked into his driveway and a man inside the house on the footage. He stated that the suspect was carrying a hammer, wore a white mask, and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white mask over it.
The responding officers heard noises coming from within the locked garage when they arrived. After a few moments, the door was opened, and body cam video shows Smestad cowering behind a car at the time. As the authorities tell him to come out of the house, he immediately runs back inside.
A few moments later, Smestad is seen wearing a rifle and standing on the back porch of the house while being recorded by a body camera worn by an officer who is stationed behind the house. The detective gives Smestad orders to drop the gun while hidden behind a brick wall, but Smestad refuses to comply. After that, the detective opened fire on the suspect because, according to the authorities, he feared for the life of another cop who was at that point in the backyard.
The video shows both officers telling Smestad to drop the rifle, and eventually the second officer opens fire on the suspect because he believes the suspect is turning towards him. Smestad passed away a short time later at a local hospital. Nobody in the police force was hurt.
