Autopsy: Mesa officer shot Daniel Shaver in back, neck, chest, thigh, cheek
Each one of the five shots fired by Mesa police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford made contact with his target, puncturing Texas man Daniel Shaver’s neck, back, left chest and thigh, and grazing his cheek.
The most significant injuries came from the bullets that struck the left lung and heart, causing “a large amount of bleeding into the left chest cavity,” according to a report from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
An autopsy released this week confirmed information in police reports and interviews about details surrounding Shaver’s death, namely that Brailsford fired his service weapon five times, and that Shaver was heavily intoxicated when it happened.
The cause of death was attributed to “multiple gunshot wounds,” and manner of death was homicide.
A medical examiner’s definition of homicide is different than a courtroom finding. It covers all deaths caused by the intentional actions of another person. Cases involving self-defense or officer-involved shootings deemed justified also would be labeled homicides.
Shaver, 26, died Jan. 18, after police were called to a room at a Mesa La Quinta Inn and Suites on reports of a man pointing a rifle outside the hotel’s fifth-floor window.
Police were in the process of detaining Shaver in the hotel hallway when they said he made a quick gesture toward his waistline, which Brailsford said he perceived as a threat. Officials later said Shaver could have been confused by the officer’s commands, and may have been reaching to pull up his shorts.
A toxicology report found that Shaver's blood-alcohol content in different areas of the body was 0.27 percent and 0.29 percent. Both would have been more than three times the legal limit to drive.
Brailsford has been charged with second-degree murder and has been fired from the Mesa Police Department.
Attorneys for Shaver’s family filed a notice Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court stating that they are planning to fight for the public release of the officer’s body camera footage capturing the incident.
The filing comes in response to a Superior Court judge’s order Tuesday ruling that the video would remain sealed. Susie Charbel, deputy county attorney, and defense attorney Craig Mehrens had filed a joint motion March 25 requesting to have the videos kept from public viewing.
