A man killed by a Tucson police officer on Tucson’s east side last month first pointed a gun at himself, then at three officers who responded to call about the man having auditory hallucinations, police footage shows.
The police shooting occurred March 29 at the Hampton Park Apartment Homes complex on Old Spanish Trail near South Camino Seco after a family friend called 911 around 5 a.m. to report that 27-year-old Eric Putnam was having hallucinations and making threats to shoot a family member in the head, according to audio released by the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team on Monday.
In this still from a police body camera, Tucson police officers, including Officer Steven Clark, left, talk on the phone with Eric Putnam, 27, at an apartment complex on Old Spanish Trail on March 29.
The woman told police that Putnam had access to guns and was concerned that he’d shoot himself or others if he saw the police.
Police were able to get Putnam on the phone, during which he told an officer that he’d heard random people making accusations about him. Asked if he would be willing to go Pima County’s Crisis Response Center, Putnam said no. He also said he wouldn’t meet with officers, who were already on the property, without weapons.
As Tucson police made their way from the front of an apartment, they could hear yelling coming from a gated patio in the back of an apartment.
In this still from a police body camera, Tucson Police officers walk up to make contact with Eric Putnam at an apartment complex on Old Spanish Trail on March 29.
Putnam could be seen standing in the patio and was asked repeatedly by police to show his hands. In the video footage, Putnam could be heard telling police to shoot him.
When Putnam pointed the gun at himself and then at the officers, Officer Steven Clark shot him.
Clark, a five-year veteran of the Tucson Police Department, performed CPR on Putnam until Tucson Fire arrived and took over. Putnam, however, was pronounced dead.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident.
