Tears running down her face, Sitharath Sam blames herself for her boyfriend’s death and says she should never have called the police.
"This turned into a nightmare," she said. "When you call you expect assistance, nothing like this where your boyfriend is dead."
Together for ten years, Sam called police on her longtime boyfriend, Sean Mould, on Dec. 27 after he refused to leave her home.
She said he was drunk and verbally abusive, but never threatening or physically violent.
"I can barely get out of bed because of all the guilt I feel over calling the stupid freaking police," she said."Save him, don't freaking kill him."
Tempe police said officers arrived at her home near Baseline and Hardy and found the boyfriend in the garage holding a knife.
He fell to the ground and police began rendering first aid and took him to the hospital where he later died.
"Now I feel like I can never call a cop to come and help me because what, what's gonna happen?" she said. "One of my loved ones is going to get killed? To me this is police brutality."
The officer who opened fire has been put on paid-administrative leave, which is standard practice when an officer is involved in a shooting.
ABC15 spoke with domestic violence experts who said Sam did the right thing by calling the police.
