GILBERT, AZ — A man wielding a knife was shot and killed by Gilbert police officers in a residential neighborhood.
Officers were called to a home near Lindsay and Guadalupe roads at around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday for reports of a man armed with a knife.
Gilbert officials say they received a call from a person who said her adult son was walking outside her home with a knife. She reported she was concerned for her family's safety and the safety of the responding officers, as she believed her son would be uncooperative.
Officers arrived at the scene within minutes and reported seeing the man running at them with an object in his hand. The officer reportedly provided commands to stop, but the man continued toward them. At this point, the officer-involved shooting occurred.
Officials say life-saving measures were performed, but the man died at the hospital. No other injuries were reported.
A knife was later located next to the man, according to Gilbert Police officials.
Police later identified him as 28-year-old Maximillian Bronson.
A neighbor who asked not to be identified told ABC15 he initially wasn’t sure what he was hearing.
“The gunshots, heard a couple pops, thought it might be somebody banging on the door,” the neighbor said. “Then I heard a couple more in quick succession. Then I knew right away it was gunfire.”
The neighbor said his first thought was his children, who were sleeping inside.
“I was just thankful that my family slept through it safe and sound because my kids’ rooms are right up there,” he said. “So that was the first thing I did was go up and check and see if there was any ricochet or any issues there, and both kids were sound asleep.”
Josh Logan, co-founder and director of training at Guardian Training & Consulting, is not connected to either investigation. He cautioned against reaching conclusions before all of the evidence is available.
“A lot of people are looking for that thumbs up or thumbs down, was it justified or not, and there are more nuances to this,” Logan said.
No other details have been provided.
The Mesa Police Department is taking over the investigation into the shooting as part of the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team.
