Bodycam video shows Arizona police officer fatally shoot armed man holding his baby

A Phoenix police officer fatally shot a gun-wielding father who was holding his child in a dramatic encounter that was caught on body camera footage.

The officer can be heard pleading with 37-year-old Paul Bolden to put the child down before shooting him outside a hotel on Jan. 9 in video released Monday by the Phoenix Police Department.

Police responded to the scene after Bolden’s girlfriend called 911 reporting he was firing a gun while holding the child.

“[He] just took my baby, he has a gun, he’s loaded, he took the baby. He’s trying to kill him, he’s shooting, he fired,” the frantic mother told 911 dispatchers, according to audio of the call released Monday.

“He got my son, he stole my son.”

Before police arrived, Bolden held a driver at gunpoint, according to another 911 caller.

When cops arrived at the scene, Bolden refused their orders to drop the gun, police said.

“He has a kid hostage right now,” one officer radios in, according to the footage. “He has a gun, he has made one gunshot already,” the officer continues.

“We need more units, block off all traffic.”

Bolden then points the gun at his child and others, police said, leading the officer with a rifle to open fire.

The shot was fired from behind the door of a police SUV, which obstructed the officer’s body camera.

After firing, an officer decides to run and grab the crying baby from the ground.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” one officer can be heard saying.

“No, f–k it, get the kid! Get the kid!”another responds.

Bolden was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

via: https://nypost.com/2021/01/26/phoenix-officer-fatally-shoots-armed-man-holding-baby/

Photo Credit: nypost.com