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'Please don’t shoot me': Man pleads for life moments before being killed by trigger happy police officer punk

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Laney Sweet
about 2 months ago
***PLEASE SHARE***

My beloved husband, Daniel, was shot and passed away the evening 
of Monday, January 18th. All of the details are not clear right 
now but I feel the need to put out what we know as truth and 
allow the rest to unfold through proper investigation-- and to 
dispel rumors that have been circulating in the media.

Daniel was traveling for work in Mesa, Arizona. He makes this 
trip 2-3 times a month and frequently services pest removal 
stores there. He carries his work equipment: two pellet guns 
(one approved for flying and one that is not allowed due to an 
air compressor, I believe.) among other things like a pump, ect. 
with him on every trip. Due to how expensive his company's 
pellet guns are, he takes his hard case into his hotel room 
every night.

Daniel had dinner with two individuals, a man and woman, in the 
evening at a local restaurant. They returned to the hotel and 
went to his room together. I spoke with him on the phone and he 
had also been online and playing a game with a friend. At some 
point, someone near the pool called the local police stating 
that they saw a man with a gun near the window of a 5th floor 
hotel room.

Whether Daniel was the one holding it or he allowed the other 
man to view his equipment and look into the scope, we don't 
know. The man left the room at some point, for what we think was 
a trip to the gas station. Shortly after, three police arrived 
to his hotel room and Daniel and the woman came to the door.

When asked to step out of the room they both did without 
hesitation. We were told that Daniel was not aggressive but that 
he failed to listen when instructing to NOT put his hands behind 
his back. Due to him putting his hands behind his back, the 
Mesa, AZ police department took forceful action and shot him. 
Daniel passed away in the hallway of his hotel, unarmed. His two 
pellet guns were in and next to his case near the window. It has 
been almost 48 hours and I have yet to be contacted by anyone 
about this matter. No notice of death, nothing. I had to do my 
own investigating after not hearing from him/him not showing up 
to work, that led me to call every hospital, jail and police 
station searching for answers.

Unfortunately, I did finally find him when calling the local 
coroner. No one had the respect or empathy to call me and our 
children and tell us that Daniel had been taken from us. Not 
only that, but not one detective assigned to the case has called 
me back after leaving voice mails seeking answers.

He was my best friend. The love of my life. A son. A brother. 
Many people's friend. The glue that held me together. He was 
madly in love with his two daughters. He sacrificed being away 
from his family for 25 days a month so he could provide for us, 
in hopes one day we could all be together all the time. Our 
oldest, Natalie (6), is a true daddy's girl. Anyone who has seen 
them together knows how much they adored each other.

Emery will be turning four next week. The last time they saw 
their dad, we went to lunch together at Natalie's school to 
surprise her before he left town. He came home, pushed Emery in 
the swing for awhile and said goodbye. I was upset that he had 
to go so he turned his truck back around and gave me three, 
sweet and meaningful kisses. I am so thankful that is my last 
memory of us together. He always did everything for us to be 
happy-- and without his comfort, we are broken and we miss him 
terribly. My girls want their daddy home. I want their tears to 
stop and for their sweet little delicate hearts to have never 
experienced this traumatizing loss.

We are raising money for immediate needs like his 
cremation/memorial service, an attorney to properly investigate 
and for traveling expenses to be with his family during this 
time.

Donations can be made via GoFundMe 
(www.gofundme.com/danielmemorialfund) or to LaneySweet@Ymail.com 
via PayPal.

When I have energy and know more, I will post updates. For now, 
please allow us to have time to process this and learn to 
navigate through our broken hearts. **Please do not go 
commenting on news articles being shared per our attorney's 
request**


- - - - - - - - - -

In Daniel Shaver’s final moments, he was heard pleading for his 
life — sobbing and saying to police officers, “Please don’t 
shoot me.”

Shortly afterward, Shaver was shot and killed by one of them, 
according to an investigation report from the Mesa Police 
Department.

In January, authorities said former officer Philip “Mitch” 
Brailsford fatally shot Shaver after responding to a call about 
a suspect with a gun. He has been charged with second-degree 
murder and fired from the force.

On Tuesday, according to the Arizona Republic, authorities 
released a report detailing witness testimony as well as audio 
and video footage from a body camera that suggests an unarmed 
and intoxicated Shaver was begging to be spared. The report also 
indicates Brailsford may have had cause for concern as Shaver 
made a move toward his waistband while approaching police.

Authorities said Brailsford then fired five shots.

https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp-
content/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/Philip-Brailsford-2-240x300.jpg

Late at night on Jan. 18, an employee at a Mesa La Quinta Inn & 
Suites phoned police to report that someone had been pointing a 
rifle from a fifth-floor window.

“A couple of the guests have come to me,” the La Quinta Inn 
worker said, according to the Arizona Republic. “I’m an employee 
and they’ve come to me and they’ve told me that somebody is 
pointing a rifle outside of one of the windows in our building.”

A woman later told police that she and a colleague were in Mesa 
for a Dollar General training conference and that Shaver had 
invited them into his room for “shots,” according to the report.

She told police she saw a case in Shaver’s room that contained a 
gun and a dead sparrow.

“Shaver told her he was on a business trip with Walmart and his 
job is to kill all of the birds that get inside the buildings,” 
according to the report. Shaver’s wife, Laney Sweet, said on 
Facebook he would travel from their Texas home to Mesa a few 
times per month to service pest removal stores.

The woman told police that Shaver and her male colleague started 
messing with the rifle, pointing it out the window. Her 
colleague later left the room.

When the officers arrived, they called Shaver on the phone and 
asked them to exit the room.

The woman later told investigators that she heard police yell at 
Shaver because he was not “following protocol.” She then saw 
police shoot him and “saw him go down,” according to the report.

But moments before he was killed, the woman said, he was crying, 
saying: “Please don’t shoot.”

Body camera footage shows that during the confrontation with 
police, Shaver was on the ground with his hands extended above 
his head, according to the report. At one point, the report 
stated, he tried tried to raise his body.

“If you do that again, we are shooting you,” an officer said, 
according to the report. “Do you understand?”

Shaver responded: “No, please don’t shoot me.”

Authorities said no weapon was seen on Shaver, but it was 
unclear whether he had one.

An officer told Shaver to crawl toward them.

Sobbing, he said, “Yes, sir,” and started to move.

Once he reached the area where the woman’s purse was, the report 
stated, “his left hand moved across his body and around the 
purse in order to crawl past it. Shaver was audibly sobbing as 
he crawled.”

The report stated that Brailsford’s rifle was pointed down the 
hall until that point.

“Brailsford then swung his rifle back toward Shaver where Shaver 
could be seen with his braced left hand and his right hand 
moving back toward his waist with his elbow raised behind him,” 
according to the report. “Shaver’s head appeared to be down with 
his face looking at the carpet.”

The report stated that “multiple voices” began to say “don’t” as 
“Shaver’s hand moved back toward the front of his body.”

“Brailsford fired his first shot as Shaver’s hand was moving 
toward the front of his body and as at least one officer was 
heard saying ‘don’t,'” according to the report.

Authorities said Brailsford fired about five shots.

Shaver, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.

[The Washington Post’s police shootings database]

On Tuesday, Mesa police also released Brailsford’s personnel 
file, which was obtained by the Republic. The newspaper said it 
painted a picture of “a high achiever who scarcely received 
criticism from his employers or the public.”

In 2013, Brailsford spoke with the Arizona Republic when he 
became one of the first rookies to receive Axon body cameras 
during the department’s push for greater security and 
transparency.

“I definitely think there is a benefit to start out with this so 
young,” he said then. “It’s like learning a new tool right off 
the bat.”

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced earlier this 
month that it was pursuing second-degree murder charges against 
Brailsford.

“The use of deadly physical force by law enforcement is governed 
by Arizona law and is always a tragedy when the loss of life 
results,” Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said, 
according to the Arizona Republic. “After carefully reviewing 
the relevant facts and circumstances, we have determined that 
the use of deadly physical force was not justified in this 
instance.”

Brailsford told investigators that “a million things” were 
racing through his mind and he felt threatened when Shaver was 
crawling, “trying to gain a position of advantage in order to 
gain a better firing position on us,” according to the report.

Brailsford entered a not-guilty plea. Shaver’s widow, Laney 
Sweet, has started adamantly fighting against a possible plea 
deal in the case.

Sweet told the Republic earlier this month that she had been 
frustrated by the lack of information available in her husband’s 
death.

“I can’t bring him back, but I will fight for justice for him,” 
she told the newspaper. “My kids are absolutely heartbroken and 
I can’t fix it.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-
nation/wp/2016/03/31/please-dont-shoot-me-man-pleads-for-life-
moments-before-being-killed-by-arizona-police-officer/
      

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'Please don’t shoot me': Man pleads for life moments before being killed by trigger happy police officer punk "FINALLY a trigger happy COP WILL PAY" <murdering.bastards@napo.org> - 2017-07-22 07:09 +0200

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