PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area police officer has been charged with the January murder of a suspect, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said Friday.

The county attorney said Mesa Police Officer Philip Mitchell Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder after killing a suspect on Jan. 18.

Brailsford, along with other officers, responded to a call of a suspect pointing a rifle out of a room window at the La Quinta Inn and Suites near Superstition Springs Boulevard and the US 60.

Officers surrounded the room’s door and ordered two suspects — a male and a female — to come out of the room on their hands and knees. When officers ordered the female to crawl toward them, she complied and was arrested.

However, when the male suspect, identified as Daniel Shaver, was ordered to crawl to officers, he allegedly made a slight movement toward his waistline. Brailsford then allegedly opened fire, hitting Shaver five times, killing him.

“After carefully reviewing the relevant facts and circumstances, we have determined that the use of deadly physical force was not justified in this instance,” Maricopa County Bill Montgomery said in a release.

In a separate release, the Mesa Police Department said it will fully cooperate with the county attorney’s office in the investigation.

A GoFundMe page has been set up in Shaver’s honor.

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