Phoenix sergeant gets shot trying to apprehend sexual assault suspect, suspect gets put down

Intense body-cam video shows a man shooting a Scottsdale sergeant as a group of officers were trying to apprehend a sexual assault suspect at a downtown Phoenix apartment earlier this month. On Jan. 6, Scottsdale officers were looking for 37-year-old Kenneth Hearne, who was a suspect in a previous sexual assault case and had a warrant out of Mesa.

Body-cam video shows police arriving at the Union at Roosevelt apartment near 1st Avenue and Roosevelt Street and going up to the apartment Hearne is in. One officer bangs on the door, and a woman opens it. The woman tells the police she has a child inside. “Bring your kid, bring her out,” police say to the woman. The two leave the apartment as the little girl begins crying, but they safely make it out. However, Hearne is still inside as officers wait by the doorway. “We know you’re inside, come to the door! Come to the front door!” one officer yells at Hearne. “Kenneth, come to the front door, hands up and empty!”

Police are pointing weapons inside the apartment, and Hearne still can’t be seen, but begins yelling at one officer. “What for?” he asks. “It’s the police, I’m ordering you to do so. We have a search warrant,” the officer replies. The officer repeats himself, asking Hearne to come out with his hands up. “You guys gonna kill me? What do you want? Don’t shoot me. Please don’t shoot me,” Hearne says, still hiding inside the apartment. “We won’t shoot you, keep your hands up. Keep your hands up. Face away from me, put your hands up,” the officer says.

One officer throws a drone inside the apartment, and gunshots ring out. Hearne’s gun can barely be seen as he begins shooting at the group, police said. At least seven shots are heard on the video as another officer returns fire. Sgt. Galbraith, hiding behind a wall, immediately falls to the ground, yelling in pain. Several officers, including Galbraith, go outside to the stairwell. “Where am I hit?” Galbraith asks. One officer begins helping Galbraith as the video fades to black. It’s unknown if Hearne was shot in the initial gunfire.

All the officers evacuated the apartment after Galbraith was shot, and he was taken to the hospital. Police say Hearne ran out and jumped off a second-story balcony before taking off. He was found the next day, Jan. 7, near Lakeshore Drive and Baseline Road in Tempe. Hearne pulled out a gun and officers shot him, investigators said. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. Sgt. Galbraith was released from the hospital on Jan. 8. Galbraith has been with the department for 19 years.