By Police1 Staff
MESA, Ariz. — A recently terminated officer’s firearm was inscribed with a vulgar phrase and has drawn questions during the investigation of a controversial fatal shooting.
Mesa Officer Philip Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder in a Jan. 18 shooting, Tucson News Now reported. Brailsford pleaded not guilty to the charges March 15 and was released without bond.
The incident occurred when Brailsford responded to calls of a man armed with a gun standing in front of the window of a hotel room.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said the man, Daniel Shaver, was on his hands and knees when Brailsford shot him five times inside the room.
Investigators told the news site Shaver reached for his waistline, possibly for a weapon, when he was shot. No weapons were found on Shaver, but two pellet guns were found inside the hotel room. It was discovered later the guns were related to his pest control job.
Prosecutors concluded the shooting was not justified and during the investigation, police noted a vulgar inscription on the officer’s personal AR-15 assault weapon that violated department policy. Although the agency approved the firearm for patrol use, they did not approve the inscription.
“Inscripted on the officer’s gun, and I hate to use profanity, but it said, “you’re f*****,”’ Laney Sweet, Daniel Shaver’s wife, said.
The inscription is on the inside of the firearm’s dust cover and only visible if the cover is open.
“That statement tells me this is a person who’s enthusiastic about killing people,” Marc Victor, lawyer for Sweet, argued. “That’s what that inscription means.”
Police launched an investigation into the firearm inscription as well.
Brailsford was fired Monday, ABC 15 reported. Police have body camera video of the incident but it has not been released.
The incident is still under investigation.