Crime Phoenix Cops Kill Man after Responding to Noise Complaint over Video Game - Cops are too stupid for high scores

WATCH: Phoenix Cops Kill Man after Responding to Noise Complaint over Video Game

Ryan Whitaker was sitting at home with his girlfriend playing video games when he was killed by police.

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Ryan Whitaker was sitting at home with his girlfriend playing video games when he was killed by police.
A noise complaint from an annoyed neighbor resulted in cops shooting and killing a man within five seconds of him opening his front door.

Ryan Whitaker opened the door holding a gun in his right hand which is legal to do in Arizona but it made the cops fear for their lives.

However, the cops never gave him a chance to put the gun down which he appeared to be trying to do when one cop shot him in the back three times.

"Why did you guys shoot him?" Whitaker's girlfriend, Brandee Nees, yelled as she stepped into the doorway.

"He just pulled a gun on us, ma'am," Phoenix police officer Jeff Cooke said.

"Because it's dark and someone just knocked on the door," Nees responded.

When Phoenix police officer John Ferragamo asked Nees if she and Whitaker had been fighting, she told him they were only playing video games.

"Literally we were making salsa and playing Crash Bandicoot so there may have been some screaming from PlayStation but it wasn’t domestic violence or anything," she said.

The incident took place on May 22 after an upstairs neighbor called police to complain about the noise.

"I gotta get to work tomorrow and I'm getting no sleep," said the neighbor in the second 911 call he made to police at 10:44 p.m.

When the dispatcher asked if the verbal argument has turned physical, he said it had turned physical but sounded as if he was just saying that to get police to respond quicker.

"It could be physical," he said. "I could say yeah if that makes anybody hurry on up. Get anybody here faster."

The cops arrived eight minutes later and knocked on the door with one of them yelling "Phoenix police" before both of them step off to the side, making it impossible for anybody to see them through the peephole. When Whitaker opened the door with the gun to his side, the cops shone their flashlights in his face then noticed the gun.

"Whoa! Hands! Hands! Hands!" Ferragamo yelled as Whitaker lowered his body with his left hand in the air and his right hand appearing to be putting the gun down.

Cooke then fired three times, shooting him in the back.

Earlier that day, Whitaker had attended his daughter's high school graduation.

Whitaker's family has been demanding justice for his slaying, according to AZ Central:

"They shot my brother in cold blood and murdered him – murdered him," Steven said.

He challenged Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams to fire Cooke, who has been with Phoenix PD for about three years, and arrest him for murder.

"We want justice for Ryan," he said. "Be accountable for your actions. Hold people accountable."

"This proved everything I've been saying," Whitaker's sister, Katie Baeza, said. "In a fraction of a second, Jeff Cooke was a judge, jury and executioner of my brother."

"If you watch that video and are OK with it, you need to step down," she continued, directing her comment at Williams. She also said the man who called 911 escalated the situation unnecessarily and should be held accountable for that.

Bodycam footage was released last month but police say they are still "investigating" whether they will charge Cooke. Watch the shortened edited video above which includes the shooting from both cameras, including portions in slow motion, as well as statements from Whitaker's girlfriend that they were not fighting.

- - -

I can't download the video on my phone. Maybe someone of you guys can load it.

Photo of the victim with his daughter

R.i.P. Fellow gamer.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

If I go look at those threads, will I see you there posting about how the police were in the wrong?

Maybe. But that was then. Right now I'm just so fucking tired of this cop shit where because of the very nature of the job something bad is going to happen eventually and "it's their fault" because of these impossible standards some hold them too. Meanwhile the perps have people lined up around the block to suck their corpse dicks for their seriously stupid and unsafe behavior. We all need to do better than that. All of us.

Also, Option 4) Yell "who is it?" from down the hall. Cautiously approach the door and take a peek. Duck back behind cover if unable to properly ID who is knocking on your door. Repeat until satisfied. Neither cops nor robbers want to barge into a home where they know the occupant is alerted and ready for them. Make your presence known. Talk it out if you can.

I mentioned earlier if it were armed bad guys he would be just as dead. Do you agree? His plan sucked on every level and created an extremely dangerous situation that led to his death. Don't be that guy. Be smart. Have a good plan. Hold people who have bad plans and make bad decisions accountable. Not just the cops.

 

[and 3 others]

Maybe. But that was then. Right now I'm just so fucking tired of this cop shit where because of the very nature of the job something bad is going to happen eventually and "it's their fault" because of these impossible standards some hold them too. Meanwhile the perps have people lined up around the block to suck their corpse dicks for their seriously stupid and unsafe behavior. We all need to do better than that. All of us.

Also, Option 4) Yell "who is it?" from down the hall. Cautiously approach the door and take a peek. Duck back behind cover if unable to properly ID who is knocking on your door. Repeat until satisfied. Neither cops nor robbers want to barge into a home where they know the occupant is alerted and ready for them. Make your presence known. Talk it out if you can.

I mentioned earlier if it were armed bad guys he would be just as dead. Do you agree? His plan sucked on every level and created an extremely dangerous situation that led to his death. Don't be that guy. Be smart. Have a good plan. Hold people who have bad plans and make bad decisions accountable. Not just the cops.

If he was outnumbered by armed bad guys, then yeah, he was dead. That's a given, regardless of his plan. If it was just one armed bad guy? I'd call it a tossup, and I'd say that getting the drop on the bad guy was the best shot he had at survival. I don't really see your Option 4 as a viable alternative, since the cops were refusing to provide satisfactory proof that they're cops.

I don't think you can really fall back on "something bad was going to happen eventually" when it was the cops who turned this into a life-or-death situation in the first place. Their protocols place all the risk and all the burden on people with no training or obligation to conduct themselves responsibly in situations like these. You can't stop accidents from happening occasionally, but you can minimize the number of accidents and shift the risk as much as possible onto those who sign up for it and get paid for it.

Even something as simple as having a cop stand in front of the door displaying his badge could have stopped this from happening.

 

[iRON-mAn]

Is there a reason why, when he crouched, he adopts a surfer pose and tries to lower the gun behind himself?

Like, is that a thing? Because moving the gun out of view sounds like the worst possible action in that situation.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

Is there a reason why, when he crouched, he adopts a surfer pose and tries to lower the gun behind himself?

Like, is that a thing? Because moving the gun out of view sounds like the worst possible action in that situation.

He was holding his empty hand up to show it's empty and to effectively surrender. You know, like cops tell you to hold your hands up. He was trying to place the gun at his side, because moving the hand they is holding a firearm towards a cop is what's know as a bad idea. He was attempting to show that he wasn't a threat and wasn't engaging in aggressive behavior when officer trigger happy decided he needed more lung holes.

If someone bangs on your door at 10pm, says they're the police, and then takes ambush positions where you can't see them, answering your door with a gun is sensible. He's also not particularly aggressively coming out of the door and had his gun at his side and visible to the cop on his right. Seriously, the fault lies with asshole neighbor who falsely called in a domestic and with officer trigger happy. Because without those two actions, a man doesn't die. This isn't rocket surgery.

 

[stuffandthings]

The one thing this situation proves is body cameras are fuckin great. Everyone here has their own spin on who was in the wrong, but they're coming at it from the concrete knowledge of being able to see exactly what happened, at least in those few seconds. They're not spinning someone else's spinned up story. We get to form our opinions from seeing opinion-less reality. A body camera for every cop.

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

A noise complaint from an annoyed neighbor resulted in cops shooting and killing a man.

While the cop who killed the man should be arrested and put on trial, this neighbor should not have the benefit of anonymity.
It's their Karen attitude that got this man killed. If I were the family, I would sue the neighbor along with the Phoenix Police Department.

 

[iRON-mAn]

You know, like cops tell you to hold your hands up.

Yeah, that's my point. He moved one hand out of sight. They need to be able to see both hands.

He was trying to place the gun at his side, because moving the hand they is holding a firearm towards a cop is what's know as a bad idea.

I think it looks like it was slightly more behind himself, because he immediately moved the to conceal the gun behind his body when he saw it was the police, and it's from there that he tries to lower it when he crouches, but behind/side doesn't really matter. It's out of sight of both police officers at that point.

If someone bangs on your door at 10pm, says they're the police, and then takes ambush positions where you can't see them, answering your door with a gun is sensible.

I never said it wasn't. I also can't fault the police for taking precautions in a domestic scene that may involve violence, because they don't know that the neighbor is exaggerating. Right up to the moment he realizes it's the police, both sides acted rationally. It's after that, where he decides the move the gun out of sight where things get messy.

Seriously, the fault lies with asshole neighbor who falsely called in a domestic and with officer trigger happy. Because without those two actions, a man doesn't die. This isn't rocket surgery.

I don't even really disagree, so I don't know why you're coming out swinging. The neighbor who claims violence because of a few banging sounds just so he can get a police response is the worst. That cop was an asshole and shot a man three times in the back rather than giving more instructions. But there were three actions, not two. The guy decided to lower his gun out of sight of the police where they couldn't even see if it was on the ground or still in his hand. It's not a decision he should have died over, but it was still dumb.

 

[Big Lenny]

What a fucking choad that neighbour was. Rather than be a fucking adult and politley ask his neighbors to keep it down, he cried tattling to the police.

 

[Leibowitz]

If someone bangs on your door at 10pm, says they're the police, and then takes ambush positions where you can't see them, answering your door with a gun is sensible. He's also not particularly aggressively coming out of the door and had his gun at his side and visible to the cop on his right. Seriously, the fault lies with asshole neighbor who falsely called in a domestic and with officer trigger happy. Because without those two actions, a man doesn't die. This isn't rocket surgery.

The dude's sister said something that helps explain his reaction to the knock.

Whitaker's sister said he took his gun to the door, after having recent trouble with an unknown person banging on the door at night.
"Men don’t go to the door empty-handed when they worry about who’s banging on the door," Baeza said.

--------

I never said it wasn't. I also can't fault the police for taking precautions in a domestic scene that may involve violence, because they don't know that the neighbor is exaggerating. Right up to the moment he realizes it's the police, both sides acted rationally. It's after that, where he decides the move the gun out of sight where things get messy.

That's what's baffling to me though, they did know the caller was exaggerating.

When Cooke and Ferragamo arrived at the apartment building, Ferragamo sounded annoyed because the caller didn't provide more details, according to the videofootage.
"Did you like all that helpful info we got from our complainant?" Ferragamo is heard telling Cooke as they walk to Whitaker's apartment, according to the footage.
"'I'm just gonna say yes to all the questions to get the officers here faster,' " Ferragamo says, mocking the caller.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

Yeah, that's my point. He moved one hand out of sight. They need to be able to see both hands.

But see, the cop on his right's body camera video shows that the gun was visible when he opened the door, meaning the cop on his right could see it. The guy who shot him was never actually in a position to see it.

I think it looks like it was slightly more behind himself, because he immediately moved the to conceal the gun behind his body when he saw it was the police, and it's from there that he tries to lower it when he crouches, but behind/side doesn't really matter. It's out of sight of both police officers at that point.

If you have a gun in your hand, you don't want to move it in a way that might suggest you're going to shoot, and raising his right hand is one of those things. Setting it to the side/behind him is the only reasonable way to disarm without sweeping someone with his barrel. I assume that's why officer trigger happy shot him, he suddenly realized there was a gun.

I never said it wasn't. I also can't fault the police for taking precautions in a domestic scene that may involve violence, because they don't know that the neighbor is exaggerating. Right up to the moment he realizes it's the police, both sides acted rationally. It's after that, where he decides the move the gun out of sight where things get messy.

Maybe, but the dispatcher should have passed on the information that the caller was just calling a domestic to get people out there faster.

I don't even really disagree, so I don't know why you're coming out swinging. The neighbor who claims violence because of a few banging sounds just so he can get a police response is the worst. That cop was an asshole and shot a man three times in the back rather than giving more instructions. But there were three actions, not two. The guy decided to lower his gun out of sight of the police where they couldn't even see if it was on the ground or still in his hand. It's not a decision he should have died over, but it was still dumb.

The whole situation is dumb, but the cop who was in a position to see the gun is not the one who was acting threatened. His bodycam could see it, so it's not unreasonable to assume that the cop could see it. Remember, the poor guy may not have known the guy on his left was there. It's a bad situation, but the guy who got shot is not at fault.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

its crap like this that makes "defunding the police" seem like not such a bad idea. we all know his gonna get away with this since the victim was a white male. fuck the neighbors for not taking a short walk and just ask the guy to turn it down. everybody is a god damn snitch these days

RIP for the guy and pray for his family.

 

[iRON-mAn]

But see, the cop on his right's body camera video shows that the gun was visible when he opened the door, meaning the cop on his right could see it. The guy who shot him was never actually in a position to see it.

The moment the guy on the right realizes there's a gun, he moves for protection behind a nearby corner, and you can't see the guy's back hand on the bodycam, just the one outstretched arm. The officer who shot him can see the gun when the guy pulls it behind himself.

If you have a gun in your hand, you don't want to move it in a way that might suggest you're going to shoot, and raising his right hand is one of those things. Setting it to the side/behind him is the only reasonable way to disarm without sweeping someone with his barrel. I assume that's why officer trigger happy shot him, he suddenly realized there was a gun.

The gun was at his side when he opened the door. All he had to do is drop straight down and clearly place the gun flat on the ground. Instead he took a side stance, obscuring part of his body.

Maybe, but the dispatcher should have passed on the information that the caller was just calling a domestic to get people out there faster.

Based on the article @Leibowitz shared, I wouldn't say they knew. Sounds like he was annoyed because the neighbor didn't take the time to give all the details so they didn't know how seriously to take it. A guy opens the door with a gun in his hand, and they're probably thinking 'oh shit this is worse than we expected'.

So, in the end, it's still the neighbor who's the biggest fuck-up. I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with the unknown banging on their door at night too.

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

The moment the guy on the right realizes there's a gun, he moves for protection behind a nearby corner, and you can't see the guy's back hand on the bodycam, just the one outstretched arm. The officer who shot him can see the gun when the guy pulls it behind himself.



The gun was at his side when he opened the door. All he had to do is drop straight down and clearly place the gun flat on the ground. Instead he took a side stance, obscuring part of his body.



Based on the article @Leibowitz shared, I wouldn't say they knew. Sounds like he was annoyed because the neighbor didn't take the time to give all the details so they didn't know how seriously to take it. A guy opens the door with a gun in his hand, and they're probably thinking 'oh shit this is worse than we expected'.

So, in the end, it's still the neighbor who's the biggest fuck-up. I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with the unknown banging on their door at night too.

Also remember cops responding aren't the same people who answer the phone. These are two different jobs and quite often cops don't meet or personally talk to the person who called them. Mostly becouse there is no reason for it but also divide the work load, like the cops can concentrate getting there fast but safe while other press for more info.

 

[Slimy Time]

Should shoot the neighbor. Are we sure it wasn't a woman who called? Since it's a bitch move to start fights you have no intention of ever getting involved in.

Watch the end of the linked video on page 2, it was a guy. Video shows both cams from both officers, a short interview with the gf after the shooting (where she states they were playing games etc and only heard knocks on the door, not police announcing their presence), then the 2 calls by the neighbour. You can tell he was calling because he wanted to make a noise complaint, but decided to report it as domestic abuse to get police on the scene. This of course gave the cops who turned up the wrong expectation, got them ready to deal with a violent man, and out comes someone with no shirt and holding a gun.

Is there a reason why, when he crouched, he adopts a surfer pose and tries to lower the gun behind himself?

Like, is that a thing? Because moving the gun out of view sounds like the worst possible action in that situation.

This is likely the reason why the cop to his back shot him. In a split second he couldn't see the gun, as he lowered into his surfer pose, his body blocked view of the gun. I guarantee the cop who killed him will cite something like "I couldn't see the gun, I thought he had it pointed at my partner so I shot him before he could kill my partner."

 

[ColtWalker1847]

If someone bangs on your door at 10pm, says they're the police, and then takes ambush positions where you can't see them, answering your door with a gun is sensible.

The one cop was clearly in the LOS of the peephole in a dark uniform with a shiny badge on his left breast in a lit hallway. Cop moves back and to the left partially behind the wall when buddy throws open the door with a gun in his hand and that movement still does not block the view from his bodycam of the doorway. That is how in plain view the cop was.

Guy didn't look. He didn't ask. He just threw the door open and went into Oh SHit panic mode. His actions were in no way sensible. No shirt. No shoes. No holster. No flashlight. No situational awareness. No idea about anything. But he had a gun in his hand boy howdy.

That is not a smart way to investigate things that go bump in the night.

Properly defending yourself is more than just carrying a weapon because you can stumble into a bad situation with the wrong people and get yourself killed. That is what happened here.

 

[Still Anonymous For This]

If you rush outside the front door of your own home with a (barely-hidden) firearm in hand, into a crowd of police, what do you think is going to happen?

The video put out by the police:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=675vUIszwtw

I totally understand law enforcement's point of view on this. But the dude was on his own doorstep and had not pointed the weapon at either officer. You can see the moment he realizes they're police in the video and is trying to drop his weapon when the other officer plugs him in the back.

Not saying the dude isn't a dipshit for going out on his front doorstep with his pistol. If someone is banging on your door in the middle of the night and claiming to be the police, and you can't see them, call 911 and verify its the actual police before you go outside.

Shitty situation either way. I feel bad for the guy and the officer who shot him. Perfect storm of fear and dumbassery, I guess.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

The moment the guy on the right realizes there's a gun, he moves for protection behind a nearby corner, and you can't see the guy's back hand on the bodycam, just the one outstretched arm. The officer who shot him can see the gun when the guy pulls it behind himself.


The gun was at his side when he opened the door. All he had to do is drop straight down and clearly place the gun flat on the ground. Instead he took a side stance, obscuring part of his body.

The gun is clearly visible in his right hand when he opens the door and he never actually takes a side stance, except for the initial moment he opens the door, his torso is facing towards flashlight guy. At no point, other than initially walking through the door, do he do anything aggressive. He was in the process of kneeling straight down, the gun ended up behind him because he was lowering it to the ground as he was shot.

The one cop was clearly in the LOS of the peephole in a dark uniform with a shiny badge on his left breast in a lit hallway. Cop moves back and to the left partially behind the wall when buddy throws open the door with a gun in his hand and that movement still does not block the view from his bodycam of the doorway. That is how in plain view the cop was.

Bullshit, the cop was already behind the corner, the guy coming out is looking forward until he catches the flashlight. You can see on the second body cam that the first officer is behind the corner already before the door ever opens. You can see from his foot position in the second body camera that he's behind the corner.
If the guy can see him, he probably can't get a good look and then there's a fucking flashlight in his eyes. He still tries to do the right thing and gets triple tapped for it.

 

[Disheveled Human]

Most of the cops where I live are trained to make it very clear that they are the police when knocking on a suspects door, these cops said it once and not loudly enough. The guy in the home probably didn't hear it clearly otherwise he would have put the gun away before opening the door. Also the cops avoiding the eyehole was a mistake because the guy may have thought it was an ambush or something.

The neighbor who reported it must have been a real dick and mentioned he was armed and dangerous or something for the cops to approach a complaint so defensively.

 

[iRON-mAn]

The gun is clearly visible in his right hand when he opens the door and he never actually takes a side stance, except for the initial moment he opens the door, his torso is facing towards flashlight guy. At no point, other than initially walking through the door, do he do anything aggressive. He was in the process of kneeling straight down, the gun ended up behind him because he was lowering it to the ground as he was shot.

He turns when he stretches one arm out in front of himself while his gun arm bends behind himself. He seems to immediately realize this is a bad idea and straightens his arm again as he kneels, but he places the gun back, behind the threshold of the door. This is all before he even gets shot.

Look at where he's standing. When he comes out the door, he's standing completely on his door mat. He's so far out he's almost off it. But you can see the side pose he takes better in the bodycam of the officer who shot him. His hand, and the gun, are back over the entrance to his house, setting the gun down inside. If he'd set it down at his side, straight down, his hand and the gun should have been on the door mat, where it would have been clearly visible to both police officers.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

He turns when he stretches one arm out in front of himself while his gun arm bends behind himself. He seems to immediately realize this is a bad idea and straightens his arm again as he kneels, but he places the gun back, behind the threshold of the door. This is all before he even gets shot.

Look at where he's standing. When he comes out the door, he's standing completely on his door mat. He's so far out he's almost off it. But you can see the side pose he takes better in the bodycam of the officer who shot him. His hand, and the gun, are back over the entrance to his house, setting the gun down inside. If he'd set it down at his side, straight down, his hand and the gun should have been on the door mat, where it would have been clearly visible to both police officers.

Well yeah, but he doesn't really change orientation to the officer in front of him. The gun would have ended up on the mat, but then he got shot and he drops it backwards into the doorway. I don't even think he was aware of the officer behind him, that flashlight in his face probably fucked up his vision. Honestly, I think the guy who shot him was reacting to the other cop more than he was the guy kneeling. From my perspective, I can't really put any blame on the guy shot, I don't know what I'd do with the cop, other than fire him. We'll see what the investigation comes up with. The neighbor though? Whatever legal hammer that can be brought down on him needs to be.