Phoenix Critical Incident Briefing: The Shooting That Claimed Commander Carnicle Life

Press release from the City of Phoenix:

July 2, 2020

The Phoenix Police Department has released a Critical incident Briefing video for the March 29, 2020 officer involved shooting that took the life of Commander Greg Carnicle.

The video includes information, audio, and visuals of the incident that happened at a home near 40th Drive and Pinnacle Peak Road.

The initial 911 call was made shortly after 1pm when a woman told dispatchers “we currently have a roommate that we need to evict because he's acting really weird and have made us extremely uncomfortable, and we wanted to do it today but he disclosed to us that he has a gun, and I don't know if this is going to be a safe.

"The woman called 911 a second time a couple hours later, reporting the roommate refused to open the door to his room and she was afraid. “We don't know if he's on something or what but he's not getting out of the house," she told dispatchers.

Approximately 5 minutes later, officers from the Cactus Park Precinct arrived, making contact with 22-year-old Jacob McIlveen.

Officers went into the home and up the stairs, identifying themselves as Phoenix Police officer and knocking on Jacob's bedroom door. 20 minutes later, he opened the door to talk with officers.

Officers: “You ok? You mind if I see your other hand? You ok man?" Jacob: “I feel like all of you are f***ing with me.

"Officers: “We're not man. We're not, not at all. You have rights as a tenant and so does the owner of the house.

“ Officers talk with McIlveen trying to convince him to leave peacefully,

Officers: “We're just here to make sure nobody fights with anybody and that you leave and you're on your way and then we're out of here, that's all.

" Jacob: “Are you telling me the truth?"

Officers: “I promise you. You have my word."

Jacob: “The whole truth?"

Officers: “The whole truth. You're not in trouble."

As officers work to get him to leave the house on his own, Jacob begins to make requests of the officers.

Jacob: “Go get my stuff, you guys said you were going to help me.

Officer: “Calm down. I'm going to go get your stuff."

Jacob delays leaving, doing things such as stopping to get a drink or asking multiple questions, some of which don't make sense to the officers

Jacob: “Are you on his?"

Officers: On whose?

This interchange goes back and forth as officers work to understand what he means. Jacob then points to how the female officer is standing, including how her feet are positioned, to illustrate what “on his" means. Officer reiterate that they don't understand what he is saying.

This type of conversation lasts for approximately 35 minutes as officers slowly move toward the front door. Officer leave the home with the expectation that Jacob is to follow. He instead shuts the door on the officers.

REMEMBERING COMMANDER GREG CARNICLES CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHOENIX POLICE

Over the course of the next hour, more officers and supervisors arrive on scene, including the on-duty commander, Greg Carnicle. They learned a second roommate named Devin was still inside the home, afraid to come out.

Based on the suspect's behavior and the roommate who was still inside the residence, the decision was made to enter the home. Using keys Devin had thrown down to officers, they unlocked the front door, pushing through furniture that had been stacked up against the door.

Officer Alicia Hubert tries to make contact, asking Jacob to come down and talk her.

Jacob asks officers to meet him outside or in the garage, but nearly 5 minutes later, when he still hasn't come down the stairs, Officer Hubert makes contact again.

“I can't meet you out in the garage. So it's either you come down or we come up. I was trying to make you feel more comfortable," Officer Hubert told Jacob.

At this point, Jacob asks to speak to the person in charge.

“Can you tell the boss to come out? I feel like he's the boss but he's hiding from everything," Jacob requested.

Commander Carnicle had been standing next to Officer Hubert, and so he responds, “Jacob I'm right here. Either come down, or we're coming up. The other person in this is Devin. We gotta get up to Devin as well."

Commander Carnicle gives Jacob one more opportunity to come down on his own, saying “So are you coming down or not? It's a yes or no?"

When there is no answer, Commander Carnicle begins to move up the stairs followed by Officers Hubert and Dowhan. That's when Jacob opens fire, hitting the three officers.

Another officer inside the home returned fire while others worked quickly to rescue the injured officers. Officers provided cover while the Lieutenant moved up the stairs to rescue Commander Carnicle.

All three injured officers were transported to the hospital.

OFFICER HUBERT SHARES THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED HER LIFE FOREVER

Several officers remained at the scene and established containment of the residence while the Special Assignments Unit (SAU) responded to the scene, taking over at approximately 7:30 p.m.

At the same time, the roommate Devin, who had been inside his second story room, was able to climb out of the window to safety.

Officers worked for the next 2 hours to secure the scene and make contact with Jacob, communicating with him over a loud speakers, encouraging him to pick up his phone and talk with officers or exit through the front door.

Officers also broadcasted messages from Jacob's family over the PA, in hopes that Jacob would surrender peacefully, including this message from his Mom:

“Hi Jake, it's your Mom. Not sure what's happening with you there. I wanna make sure that you're safe, and everyone with you is safe. Whatever's going here, we can work through this. There's nothing that's happened that we can't work through, as a team and as a family. I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart. And I want to make sure that whatever's happening, I want everybody to get out of there safe, including you. I love you so much Jake"

When those efforts were unsuccessful, SAU began looking for alternatives to bring the standoff to an end, including firing non-lethal gas into the home.

At approximately 11:15, Jacob slide out the side of the home through a window. He was armed with a gun. An officer shot at Jacob, striking him. Officers approached Jacob and fire personnel responded, pronouncing him deceased.

LOOKING BACK ON THE LIFE OF COMMANDER GREG CARNICLE

Commander Carnicle was unable to survive his fatal injury. Officers Dowhan and Hubert were seriously injured. Officer Dowhan's injuries were to her right leg. Officer Hubert was shot in the back and left foot. Her vest stopped the bullet.

When the officers were shot, two of them dropped their guns. One of those guns was picked up by Jacob and he was armed with it four hours later when he crawled outside through the window.

A total of three officers fired weapons during this incident. The first two, when Commander Carnicle and others went inside the home. They are both assigned to the Cactus Park Precinct, one with approximately 3 years of service, the other with less than two years.

The third officer fired outside the residence as the standoff was ending. He is assigned to the Special Assignments Unit and has 3 years of service.

Conclusions about whether the actions of the officers are consistent with department policy and the law will not be made until all facts are known and the investigation is complete. Please be advised that the attached video may contain strong language as well as graphic video and images which may be disturbing to some people. Viewer discretion is advised.

This narrative and the accompanying video are intended to inform and educate the public about a critical incident. Learn more about the Phoenix Police Department's transparency policy on our website.

This press release was produced by the City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author’s own.