9 Feb 19th-Feb 25th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Ledezma Garcia, and wrestled him to the floor. “Over here! They’ve got him on the ground!” one of Rendon’s family members could be heard telling the officers. Valenzuela fired anyway, to the horror of Rendon’s family. “NO! NO! YOU SHOT THE WRONG ONE, YOU IDIOT!” one of Rendon’s sons could be heard screaming. “YOU SHOT MY DAD!” On Feb. 6, nearly two weeks after the shooting, Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano finally formally acknowledged that Valenzuela killed the wrong person. “Based on what we now know, I am able to share that the man who was fatally shot had disarmed the individual who had fired shots at the home and other family members. He was not the subject of the original call,” Giordano wrote in a state- ment. The statement did not name Rendon, Garcia or Valenzuela. “We know this does not lessen the pain felt by those who are grieving,” Giordano concluded. “Our goal is to be transparent and maintain trust as we work through this difficult incident together.” ‘They got him down’ According to audio from 911 calls and doorbell camera video from Rendon’s home, Garcia approached the home a little after 6 p.m. on Jan. 26. Hip-hop music blared from the home as Garcia, driving a gray pickup truck and wearing a sweater, pulled up and began firing a shotgun into the home. Doorbell camera footage shows Garcia wandering aimlessly in front of the house, firing his shotgun seemingly in random directions. He then took out a pistol and fired several times in rapid succession, though the footage doesn’t clearly show in which direction. After a pause, he fired several more shots. After more meandering, he approached the front door and pistol-whipped the doorbell camera, flipping it upside down. He tried the door, which appeared to be locked. Then he seemingly returned to his car, where he took off his shirt, shoul- dered his shotgun and made his way around to the back of the house. During that period, which lasted about five minutes, Phoenix police were being inundated with 911 calls from inside and outside the house. From within the home, frantic callers told dispatchers that a man was firing into the home and had struck a child. They did not know who he was. “Somebody shoot one of my kids,” said one caller, who may have been Rendon. One child told a dispatcher that they worried the shooter was “somebody with ICE.” Several neighbors also called the police. One man told a dispatcher that Garcia had fired 10 to 15 times at the house and was currently reloading. “Please shoot this motherfucker when you’re here,” he said. Another neighbor, a woman, described how Garcia drove past her house, where her children had been playing out front, before he pulled up to Rendon’s house and began blasting. The woman begged police to hurry. The dispatcher told her: “Stop telling me to hurry up. I’m not the one coming.” (Phoenix Police Department Youtube) Wrong Man from p 6 >> p 10
