On Jan. 17, a Phoenix police officer shot and killed 45-year-old Christopher Phillips in the back as he was running away, firing a single rifle shot like a hunter in a deer stand. Now the family of Phillips, who was the second person killed by Phoenix cops in 2025, is suing the city and the officer who pulled the trigger, William Rodriguez Gallardo.
Last week, Phillips’ mother, Maria Munoz, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court on behalf of herself, her husband and Phillips’ three children, whom she said are 13, 8 and 7 years old.
“They shouldn’t have shot my son,” Munoz said in a press release. “Chris was running away and what hurt me so much was how he was left on the ground bleeding, and nobody tried to help him. It’s a pain only a mother can feel.”…