http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/metro/138974.php
Maintenance man found not guilty in drug-related apartment shootings
An apartment complex maintenance man who was charged with attempted first-degree murder after shooting two men on the property last year was found not guilty Monday.
...
She was trying to clean up the complex and feared that violence would arise because a tenant had allowed her boyfriend to sell drugs out of an apartment, Gravitt said.
On the day police went to the complex, they discovered drugs in the woman's apartment, but did not make an arrest, instead opting to return the following day, said Mark Resnick, Phillips' attorney.
...
As Phillips and Gravitt's husband went to secure gates and apartments that had been left open, the tenant's boyfriend and another man arrived at the complex, Gravitt said.
The boyfriend entered the complex and shouted, "Where them snitch (expletive) at?"
As the boyfriend approached Phillips and Gravitt's husband, he began reaching behind his back, as if he was reaching for a gun, at which time Phillips pulled out his own gun and fired, Resnick said.
"It was a struggle for survival," Phillips said of his decision to shoot the men. "Everybody has a right to survive, and you'd be shocked at what you will do to keep on breathing."
He struck the man who was with the boyfriend once in the foot and shot the boyfriend several times, Resnick said.
Phillips began carrying a gun after a previous encounter with the boyfriend, in which Phillips thought he saw a gun in the man's waistband, Resnick said.
...
Phillips and Gravitt, who no longer manages the apartment complex, said while they are glad that the justice system worked, they are concerned about the way police handled the situation.
"When you call the police, it is already a desperate situation. You need help," Phillips said. "But they just left us there with the dealers. It was like someone going and kicking a beehive and once the bees start to swarm, that person leaves. I mean, someone is going to get stung."
Maintenance man found not guilty in drug-related apartment shootings
An apartment complex maintenance man who was charged with attempted first-degree murder after shooting two men on the property last year was found not guilty Monday.
...
She was trying to clean up the complex and feared that violence would arise because a tenant had allowed her boyfriend to sell drugs out of an apartment, Gravitt said.
On the day police went to the complex, they discovered drugs in the woman's apartment, but did not make an arrest, instead opting to return the following day, said Mark Resnick, Phillips' attorney.
...
As Phillips and Gravitt's husband went to secure gates and apartments that had been left open, the tenant's boyfriend and another man arrived at the complex, Gravitt said.
The boyfriend entered the complex and shouted, "Where them snitch (expletive) at?"
As the boyfriend approached Phillips and Gravitt's husband, he began reaching behind his back, as if he was reaching for a gun, at which time Phillips pulled out his own gun and fired, Resnick said.
"It was a struggle for survival," Phillips said of his decision to shoot the men. "Everybody has a right to survive, and you'd be shocked at what you will do to keep on breathing."
He struck the man who was with the boyfriend once in the foot and shot the boyfriend several times, Resnick said.
Phillips began carrying a gun after a previous encounter with the boyfriend, in which Phillips thought he saw a gun in the man's waistband, Resnick said.
...
Phillips and Gravitt, who no longer manages the apartment complex, said while they are glad that the justice system worked, they are concerned about the way police handled the situation.
"When you call the police, it is already a desperate situation. You need help," Phillips said. "But they just left us there with the dealers. It was like someone going and kicking a beehive and once the bees start to swarm, that person leaves. I mean, someone is going to get stung."
