Four months, and his family is still waiting for a police report. Four months, and his family is still waiting to view full body-camera footage of the incident.
On Tuesday, members of Bojorquez's family, activists, and lawmakers gathered at Glendale City Hall to make their demands heard yet again. It had been two weeks since the first rally for Bojorquez. Yet his family said that they had heard nothing from the Glendale Police Department, or the Buckeye Police Department, which is conducting an investigation into Bojorquez's death.
"We just want answers," said Maria Martinez, Bojorquez's aunt, with whom he lived. "We want the reports. We want the camera footage." And, she said, "We want that cop in jail."
Anna Hernandez, who in August won the Democratic primary for the Arizona Senate in Legislative District 24, stood with Bojorquez's family to demand answers about the shooting. Her own brother was shot and killed by the Phoenix Police Department in 2019.
"To date, there has been zero communication from Glendale PD or anyone involved in the investigation providing them any updates about what is going on," Hernandez said. She faces no opposition in the November election for the Senate seat, which encompasses parts of Glendale and west Phoenix.
The demands from Bojorquez's family feel all too familiar. A month ago, on September 24, two Phoenix police officers shot and killed a man who was throwing rocks at them. His family also rallied to demand that the department provide them with the full video footage of the incident. Glendale, like the Phoenix Police Department, creates short, edited videos of police shootings rather than releasing all of the raw footage from bodycams worn by officers. It's a practice that has drawn criticism.
Family members were among people who called for more information to be released about the police killing of Juan Carlos Bojorquez.
Katya Schwenk
'We Just Want to Know Why'
Bojorquez's death marked the second fatal police shooting in Glendale this year. Information about the incident is still limited to the edited video released by Glendale police in September, as well as press statements made by police at the time of the incident. Despite the family's requests, the Glendale Police Department has not released more video or any reports.Sgt. Randy Stewart, a Glendale police spokesperson, told New Times that the killing remains under investigation. "The facts remain that Borjorquez was an armed juvenile inside a stolen vehicle and was reaching toward a weapon at the time of the incident," he said.
"We respect the right of the family of Juan Carlos Borjorquez to speak out," Stewart added.
Glendale police officers, including some from the department's fugitive apprehension squad, encountered Bojorquez on July 6. He was driving what police alleged was a stolen vehicle. A 16-year-old friend was in the passenger seat.
Bojorquez was approached by an undercover officer, who was not wearing a body camera. According to police, he told officers that there was a gun in the car, and photos released by the department show a blue-painted handgun in the vehicle's center console.
Some kind of struggle ensued between Bojorquez and the officer. Bodycam footage from another officer on the scene just after the shooting shows Bojorquez falling out of the car and onto the ground as the officer stumbles over a curb. "Is the gun on him?" one officer asked. Another replied, "I don't know. He was reaching."
Glendale police alleged that Bojorquez reached toward the gun, prompting the shooting. Family of the other boy on the scene, who attended the rally on Tuesday, claimed that the two had their hands up.
Bojorquez's family said they learned of the teen's death on social media and not from police — after initially being told he was in the hospital in stable condition and that they could not visit him. "We just want to know why? Why did we have to find out through social media that our child was dead? Why?" Martinez asked during the Glendale City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Activists, lawmakers and relatives of Juan Carlos Bojorquez, who was killed by police, rallied at Glendale City Hall on October 25.
Katya Schwenk
'He Was Not Given a Fair Trial'
Glendale police did not address the specifics of that claim and others made by Bojorquez's family on Tuesday. "Since this case is pending, we cannot comment further or answer these questions. Remember, this is not our investigation," Stewart said.The Buckeye Police Department is investigating the shooting, and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office will review the agency's findings for possible criminal charges against the officers involved. So far, Buckeye police have been tight-lipped about its ongoing probe and won't release any information until the investigation is complete.
"Investigators are now completing and finalizing reports to be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review. We are unable to comment on evidence or any other part of this ongoing investigation," Buckeye police spokesperson Carissa Planalp wrote in an email to New Times.
The family has demanded that the Buckeye Police Department be removed from the investigation and replaced by another agency. They said Buckeye police officers were on the scene of the incident on July 6. But Planalp said no Buckeye officers were involved.
"Buckeye police responded to the scene to investigate the shooting incident as part of the West Valley Investigative Response Team. No Buckeye police officers were involved in the incident," she said. The investigative response team is an agreement between nine police departments in the West Valley that conducts third-party investigations of police shootings.
Jose, Bojorquez's brother, also spoke on Tuesday. "He was not able to be given a fair trial," he said. "He was cut short from his life."
Martinez added, "He was a brother, a nephew, a son, a cousin. Everybody loved him. I mean, we all loved him."
