PHOENIX — Phoenix police released video from two separate incidents involving officers being attacked within the span of one week.
Phoenix police in a news conference Thursday showed a video of an off-duty police officer, Harold Boswell, who was shot while responding to an armed robbery in progress near 35th and Southern avenues on March 29.
A civilian in the area told Boswell that the robbery was happening, prompting him to step in. He was attacked "immediately" when he approached and the suspects shot him before he could get close to the scene, Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan said.
Three people were arrested in connection with the shooting, police said. Boswell was released from the hospital on Monday.
In the video released by police, it is difficult to see the shooting, but three people are seen trying to rob individuals in a white car.
The other video released by police was of an officer who was stabbed at a QuikTrip convenience store near 19th Avenue and Bell Road on Sunday morning on a call for trespassing. An employee of the business told the officer who responded there was a man trespassing and the employee wanted the man off the property.
Police said the officer spoke to the man and informed him he was no longer allowed to be there, and then the officer began to escort the man to the exit. The man pulled out a knife and "violently attacked the officer," police said.
In the video, the officer is seen escorting the man out of the store and the man quickly pulls out a knife, stabbing the officer in the neck. A security guard and a clerk both fought with the man, subduing him until other officers arrived.
The officer who was stabbed at the QuikTrip is still in the hospital with a long road to recovery, police said.
"We’re taught, ‘don’t give up. Even if you feel like you are critically hurt.’ Both of these officers did not give up," Sgt. Mayra Reeson said during a news conference on Thursday. "They did not just lay down and let this take over, they fought, they’re still fighting; they fought to recover, and they’re fighting for their lives and this is just a highlight of how quick this happens."
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