13 Nov 6th-Nov 12th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | yelled at Phillips not to reach for the gun and stay on the ground, but the footage released by police ended there. While police said they recovered a gun, no image of the gun is included in the briefing, as is often the case when weapons are recovered. The lawsuit over Phillips’ killing does not mention that Phillips allegedly had a gun, much less that he allegedly pointed it at police. But Richard Lyons, an attorney representing Phillips’ family in the suit, said that it’s irrelevant to the case. “It doesn’t matter if (Phillips) pointed a gun at them,” Lyons told Phoenix New Times in a phone interview. “(Gallardo) said, ‘He pointed at me, bro,’ and waited seven seconds before firing.” Lyons referenced a 2024 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Calonge v. City of San Jose, which said that there has to be an immediate threat to offi- cers or others to justify lethal force. The lawsuit says that “Christopher posed no threat to officers” or anyone else “when he was shot and killed from behind.” “He may have had a gun on him, but that does not allow an officer to use deadly force,” Lyons said. A Maricopa County medical examiner’s report issued on March 2 said that Phillips was killed by a single rifle shot from Gallardo, which entered his lower back and hit his pelvis. He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after arrival. The lawsuit alleges that Gallardo’s decision to shoot at Phillips as he fled offi- cers in broad daylight violated the Fourth and 14th Amendments. Munoz and the family are asking the court to require the city and Gallardo to pay punitive damages, attorney’s fees and court costs and general damages related to Munoz’s “emotional pain, distress, hardship, suffering, shock, worry, anxiety, sleeplessness and suffering for the loss of her son.” It’s unclear whether Gallardo’s use of force was within department policy — the incident is not listed in Phoenix police’s public use-of-force database. Sgt. Phil Krynsky, a police spokesperson, declined to respond to an inquiry about the omission from the database and whether the depart- ment cleared Gallardo in the shooting. Neither is it clear whether the department still employs Gallardo. A spate of shootings Gallardo killed Phillips days before President Donald Trump took office and seven months after the U.S. Department of Justice released a damning report that docu- mented how Phoenix cops have a pattern and practice of discriminatory policing and using excessive and unjustified deadly force. Months after the killing, however, Trump administration officials rescinded the DOJ report, ending any possibility of independent oversight of Phoenix police. Police killings have continued anyway. Phillips was one of four people killed by Phoenix police through mid-August, but there have been six more since. In 2024, Phoenix police officers shot and killed 14 people, surpassing the death toll of 12 in 2023 — a mark the department is now on track to hit — and 10 in 2022. The recent run of shootings coincides almost exactly with the hiring of new Police Chief Matthew Giordano. Phoenix police shot and killed six people in a 54-day span between Aug. 19 and Oct. 11. About midway through the streak — when Phoenix officers had killed four people in 41 days — Giordano issued a press release announcing new poli- cies and initiatives to promote de-escalation tactics and training for dealing with people in behavioral crises. “We understand how deeply concerning this is to our community and we share your concern,” Giordano said in the statement. “We remain committed to continuous improvement. Policing demands courage, split-second decision making, and compas- sion in the toughest moments.” On Oct. 2, the day after Giordano’s press release, Phoenix officers shot two more people — including an unarmed man — and killed one of them. The man who died was holding a knife but appeared to be 40-50 feet away from officers and was yelling at them to kill him. On Oct. 11, Phoenix police shot two more people, killing one of them. So far, none of the department’s 10 fatal shootings this year have been deemed out of police policy, nor have any resulted in charges by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Picked Off from p 10 Christopher Phillips, who was killed by Phoenix police on Jan. 17, 2025, poses for a selfie with his mother. (Courtesy of Richard Lyons)
