Phoenix Police Shoot Man Accused Of Waving Machete: Police

PHOENIX, AZ — A Phoenix police officer shot a man Sunday afternoon, after police said the man waved a machete and walked toward officers with it, according to a news release from the Phoenix Police Department.

Police did not publicly identify the man, who was taken to a local hospital to be treated for critical injuries after the officer shot him, police said.

Someone notified officers, who were in the area around noon on Sunday, that the man was waving a machete in an open field near 19th and Southern avenues, according to police.

Police officers told the man to drop the machete as he walked toward 19th Avenue, but he was shouting in Spanish and the officers there couldn't understand him, police said. It's unclear if the man understood the commands police were giving him.

While the man was standing on 19th Avenue, an officer shot the man with beanbags rounds from a shotgun, but that didn't stop him, police said. It was then that the officer shot him with a handgun, according to police.

No officers or bystanders were injured, police said.