MESA

911 call before fatal shooting by Mesa officer: 'We've got some scared people'

Lindsey Collom
The Republic | azcentral.com
Texas resident Daniel Shaver was shot and killed by Mesa police Officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford on Jan. 18, 2016, at the La Quinta Inn & Suites near U.S. 60 and Power Road.

"We've got some scared people."

Those words from a La Quinta Inn & Suites employee to a police dispatcher on Jan. 18 were among the earliest in a chain of events ending in the shooting death of an unarmed Texas man at the hands of a Mesa police officer now charged with second-degree murder.

Prosecutors allege Philip "Mitch" Brailsford used unjustified force when he shot and killed Daniel Shaver. Brailsford has since been terminated from the Mesa Police Department.

RELATED: Texas man fatally shot by Mesa officer begged for life

Audio of the original 911 call was released Tuesday by the department in response to a records request made by The Arizona Republic.

"A couple of the guests – I’m an employee – 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," said the employee, identified in police records as a front-desk clerk at the La Quinta Inn near U.S. 60 and Power Road.

"Do we know what he's pointing the gun at?" the dispatcher says.

The clerk responds, "We're not sure."

The clerk's voice is measured and calm. There is discussion in the background.

"Ah, they're saying fourth floor. ... Fifth floor, that's going to be 502," he says, his voice muted as he talks with someone nearby. The clicking of a keyboard, presumably the dispatcher's, is in the foreground.

Dispatcher: "OK, is anybody injured at this time?"

Clerk: "Uh, nobody’s injured at the moment, no. We’ve got some scared people."

As the call continues, the clerk tells the dispatcher that Shaver is staying in Room 502. The dispatcher asks him to describe Shaver's vehicle, which the clerk says he can do on sight. He then goes out to the parking lot to give the dispatcher the make and model of Shaver's vehicle, as well as the license plate.

He returns to the hotel lobby.

"Hey, I can help you find it," the clerk tells someone out of earshot. He then verifies to the dispatcher that he was just speaking with officers, ending the call.