Flagstaff police officer's body camera captures fatal shooting

Video captured from the video camera worn by Flagstaff police Officer Tyler Jacob Stewart shows the conversation between the rookie officer and shooting suspect Robert William Smith before it turned into a deadly confrontation.

The camera stops in the instant before Smith reportedly shot and killed Stewart outside a Flagstaff home on Dec. 27.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The video below is graphic and may not be something you want to see. It was released by Flagstaff Police honoring a public records request by media, including azcentral, The Arizona Republic and 12 News. The video will be part of the ongoing discussion about safety for officers and for the people they encounter, which is why we think it is newsworthy.

Smith and Stewart were about to walk out the backdoor when Smith returned to his bedroom and emerged with his right hand stuffed in his jacket pocket, according to police reports. Stewart asked Smith if he was carrying any weapons as they walked outside, which Smith denied, records show.

The men spoke calmly for about three minutes, before Stewart asked to search Smith. Smith told Stewart the only thing in his pockets were "smokes," according to the police report.

When Stewart reached for Smith's jacket pocket, Smith turned, pulled out a .22 caliber revolver and quickly fired six shots, records show. Five bullets hit Stewart, including four in the head. The sixth bullet entered Smith's home, ricocheted off the refrigerator and a wall before it ended up lodged in the kitchen tile.

Audio from Stewart's body camera recorded a seventh shot about 10 seconds later, records show. Investigators found a .40 caliber casing — the same brand and caliber of ammunition used by Flagstaff police — near Smith's body.

Stewart, 24, was a rookie with less than one year experience with Flagstaff police when he was killed Dec. 27. Investigators used footage from Stewart's body camera to piece together what happened at about 1:30 p.m. in an alley near Clay Avenue and Globe Street, not far from Northern Arizona University in one of Flagstaff's oldest neighborhoods.

But it was a mid-morning argument between Smith, 28, and his girlfriend over unwashed dishes that set in motion a chain of events that led to Stewart's shooting, records show. Smith's girlfriend called police after he reportedly tore down curtain rods in her apartment, damaged the refrigerator, knocked things over and spilled nail polish in her bedroom, according to records.

Stewart was first dispatched to the apartment where the argument took place at about 11 a.m., that Saturday records show. Smith was already gone because the woman had driven him home after the argument. Stewart then drove the woman through Flagstaff so she could show him where Smith lived before Stewart took her back home, according to the police report.

Stewart returned to Smith's house, but Smith's roommate told the rookie officer that Smith had fled out the back door. Stewart left and called his father, Sgt. Frank Stewart of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and asked questions about when he could enter someone's home without a search warrant, records show.

At about 12:30 p.m., Smith called Flagstaff police and left a message for Stewart, records show. Stewart called him back and drove to back to Smith's house shortly after 1 p.m. where Smith's roommate answered and called for Smith to walk out of his bedroom.