A medical examiner’s report shows that a Granbury man’s blood-alcohol level was over three times the legal limit when he was shot five times by an Arizona officer in January.
Mesa, Ariz. police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford fatally shot Daniel Shaver at a hotel on Jan. 18. Police said at the time that someone had reported seeing a man with a gun at the hotel.
Autopsy results released Thursday by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner state that Shaver was shot five times; once in the neck, the upper back, left chest, right thigh and a graze wound on his left cheek.
“Significant sites of injury included the heart and left lung, with a large amount of bleeding into the left chest cavity,” the medical examiner’s report reads. Two of Shaver’s cervical vertebrae, one rib on his left side and multiple areas of soft tissue were also injured.
“Numerous” metal fragments were recovered during the autopsy, according to the medical examiner.
The toxicology report shows that Shaver had a blood alcohol level of .27. No drugs were detected in his system.
“Toxicology testing was positive for elevated amounts of ethanol,” the report states.
A police report released earlier this week stated that Shaver may have been intoxicated at the time of the shooting.
"Shaver was cooperative, but sometimes confused by the commands and because of his possible intoxication," the report said. "The sergeant told Shaver that if he put his hands behind his back then he would be shot."
The report also revealed that Shaver said, "Please don't shoot me" right before he was killed.
Mesa Police first defended Brailsford after the shooting, saying he felt threatened when he approached Shaver and another woman in a hotel room, and then hallway.
Bill Montgomery, the county attorney, has since reviewed the evidence and said Shaver's death was a result of unjustified deadly force.
Brailsford was charged with murder on March 4. He was terminated from the police department.
Shaver and his wife, Laney Sweet, lived in Granbury with their children.
She has filed a civil suit, and has also retained noted attorney Mark Geragos to represent her.
