Armed Robber Steals Cellphone, Is Shot When He Pulls Gun And Doesn’t Yield To Off-Duty Cop
Via Alison Grande, Henry Rosoff and KIRO 7 Staff
Tacoma police say Galaviz was fatally wounded after refusing to drop his gun.
Witnesses say the incident started when Galaviz stole a woman’s phone at a bus stop and knocked her down.
Two men chased after him and pinned him against his truck. Officers say Galaviz pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the men. When ordered by the off-duty officer to drop the weapon, they say Galaviz didn’t comply.
An armed man robbed a young woman who just exited a Starbucks in Tacoma, Washington. Witnesses saw the robber jump out of his blue truck and rob the woman, and a couple good Samaritans stepped in when they heard the woman crying and realized what was going on.
The robber managed to steal her cellphone before the Samaritans stepped in and pushed him against his truck, wrestling him. Then the robber pulled his gun and pointed it at the two men.
That’s when the off duty officer showed up after noticing the whole scene while in traffic, and he identified himself and told the robber to drop his weapon. The robber did not listen and the officer shot him in the chest. He then jumped in his truck, drove a short distance only to crash and later died at the hospital.
The robber was identified as 40 year old Jason Galaviz who had a family of five and a history of drug abuse. Investigators are working on a toxicology test to rule out if he was under the influence at the time of the robbery.
The off-duty officer has been with the Tacoma PD for 23 years and has 29 years of law enforcement experience, and like most officers in this situation is on paid administrative leave until the shooting has been thoroughly investigated.
This is another instance of our off duty officers being vigilant and saving lives, but mainstream media would rather run a police brutality story over a police defensive gun use story any day.
The facts are pretty clear and many witnesses came forward to confirm the facts, this police officer saved lives with his quick action. It is still extremely sad that anyone would lose their life over a cellphone, even though this robber made his choice and knew the consequences to not complying with a Police officer with his weapon drawn.
It’s a miracle that this police officer was there at that exact time, and i’m sure those Samaritans were relieved and grateful he acted so quickly. I know as a witness watching the scene take place, this showed the cruciality of the police officer having a gun and being trained on the usage of it. This should make everyone think twice on getting a firearm permit and carrying in case of an emergency defensive gun use.
