Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, takes a question at the Paradise Baptist Church in Los Angeles in this Aug. 19, 2014, photo.PHOENIX - Phoenix Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia says that state authorities will take over the probe of a police-involved shooting last week that killed a woman with mental illness.
The Arizona Republic reports that Garcia made the announcement hours after a public funeral for Michelle Cusseaux. Cusseaux, 50, was shot by Sgt. Percy Dupra on Aug. 14 after authorities said she threatened officers with a hammer at apartment as they tried taking her to an in-patient psychiatric facility. Cusseaux died a short time later.
Garcia's announcement at a news conference that the Arizona Department of Public Safety would take over the probe represents a shift from a few days earlier when the chief said he would have the Maricopa County Attorney's Office review his department's findings.
The Republic reported that Garcia said the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a police officer killed an unarmed African-American man has focused anger and mistrust on law enforcement officers across the nation.