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On Monday, November 7, Phoenix police released body-camera footage of an incident in which a local officer confronted an armed woman outside of an elementary school.
In the footage from September 22, a local Phoenix woman, identified as 29-year-old Desira Featchurs, can be seen screaming at a man as she walks towards him outside Mountain View School near Seventh Avenue and Peoria. Featchurs reaches into her purse and pulls out a handgun before the officer moves in to grab her.
Phoenix police shared the footage on Twitter and commended the officer for how they handled the incident.
The caption read:
"When it comes to protecting your children, there is no time to waste when we see a threat. Thanks to the heroic actions of this PHXPD Police Officer, a possible shooting at the school was prevented."
According to Fox News, Desira Featchurs was arrested on multiple charges, including endangerment and carrying a weapon on school grounds.
The Phoenix incident stemmed from custody dispute
According to Arizona's Family, the September 22 incident was the result of an alleged custody dispute between Desira Featchurs and the father of her child.
Featchurs was allegedly angry that her child got into the father's car. The officer who recorded the footage, who was confirmed to be a School Resource Officer by Phoenix authorities, made an attempt to calm her down.
In the video, he can be heard saying:
"(Your child) wanted to get in."
However, Featchurs ignored him and pulled out her firearm, leading to the moment in which he grabbed her.
Phoenix Police confirmed in a statement to Fox News that the armed suspect is the mother of a student at the school seen in the footage.
The statement read:
"The person seen pulling out a gun from her purse is a Mountain View School parent. The School Resource Officer was called to the front office by the school for a domestic dispute over child custody."
Authorities have not yet disclosed whether or not the firearm seen in the video was licensed.
Gun violence in the city has seen an alarming rise
The city of Phoenix is no stranger to gun violence, with authorities reporting the seizure of over 700 illegal firearms in August alone.
In an interview with KTAR, then-police chief Jeri Williams reported that the uptick in violence she saw across the city in 2022 was the worst she had experienced. Williams said:
"I have not in 33 years ever seen anything like this."
She continued:
"It’s baffling to me to have someone who is a prohibited possessor be able to possess a gun and then create all this harm and damage to our community members."
Williams suggested that in order to bring down the rate of violent homicides in the city, more thorough background checks should be provided in order to assess responsible weapons owners.
