Mitchell said she "questioned the reasonableness of the second shot," but she decided, ultimately, that it was a reasonable action, citing that only two seconds passed between the firing of the rounds. He would not die for another three weeks - January 23 - while still in the hospital. Bebak-Miller told him that this was "stupid." When another officer arrived, the two handcuffed Cano. Both shots were to Cano's back.Īs Cano lay wounded, he told Bebak-Miller that he had tried to throw the gun to avoid getting shot. Then, Bebak-Miller shoots once, and Cano falls, and again, while he's on the ground, the gun lying out of reach. Body-worn camera footage shows the pistol fall and Cano grabbing it and tossing it. He had a Glock pistol in his pocket, which the officer observed. When Bebak-Miller flashed his lights, Cano abandoned his bike and fled on foot into a nearby park. The officer said he initiated a pursuit because Cano didn't have rear reflectors on his bike, and was riding erratically in the road. Bebak-Miller was in his police cruiser, and spotted Cano.
Cano's family, and protesters, have called for criminal charges against Bebak-Miller for more than a year.Ĭano was riding a bicycle down a Chandler boulevard on January 2, 2021, the night he was shot. The Cano case was the first high-profile police violence case that Mitchell has decided on during her tenure, and it likely will prove divisive. It showed that the office, she said, was "driven by allegiance to law enforcement cronies over the right of Arizona families to have their day in court." It was a "gross failure of justice for a family mourning the death of their child," she said. In a statement Thursday, attorney Julie Gunnigle, who is vying for the county attorney's seat in the November election, sharply criticized the decision. But, Mitchell continued, she did not think Bebak-Miller's actions that night were unreasonable, the legal standard to bring charges against a police officer for force.
She had empathy for the "parents who lost a son, and family who lost a family member," she said. "Today is not an easy day," Mitchell said at the opening of the press conference. Mitchell said Thursday that she concluded there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction" in the case, and that Bebak-Miller will not face charges. During that time, the Chandler Police Department conducted its own internal investigation, which it passed to the county to review and determine whether criminal charges were warranted. The Chandler police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Anthony Cano in January 2021 will not face charges, Maricopa County attorney Rachel Mitchell announced at a somber press conference on Thursday.Ĭano's death last year sparked weeks of protests, demanding action against the lone officer who had pursued him, Chase Bebak-Miller.
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