Inset: Axeel Melendez in the hospital (KPHO). Background: Authorities at Melendez’s home after he was shot (KOLD).
A 24-year-old Arizona man who warned authorities that hackers were threatening to send police to his home in a swatting attack was shot by sheriff’s deputies during a fake emergency response two days later, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down, his attorneys say.
Axeel Melendez filed a notice of claim against the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Chris Nanos, and other county officials, alleging deputies ignored warning signs that the April 10 call was a hoax before forcing their way into his home and opening fire.
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The filing, a required step before suing a government entity in Arizona, seeks $176 million in damages for Melendez and his mother, Carmen, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The claim alleges deputies’ actions turned a preventable swatting incident into a life-altering shooting that left Melendez with a permanent spinal cord injury.
According to the notice of claim, Melendez contacted the sheriff’s department on April 8 after hackers obtained his personal information while he was playing online video games and threatened to send police to his home unless he paid them. The hackers allegedly told him they would falsely report that he had a bomb or create another emergency response at his address.
“So they’re threatening to call the police station and have police come down to, they’re saying that they’re going to call the station and say that I have a bomb and stuff and come to my address and stuff like that,” Melendez told a 911 dispatcher, according to the filing.
The dispatcher reassured him that the threat would not result in an armed response.
“They can’t just call SWAT on you. That’s not how that works,” the dispatcher said, according to Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
A subsequent investigation allegedly confirmed that at least one of the calls was fraudulent and explained to Melendez that because he had already contacted authorities, he should be safe from any future false reports.
Less than 48 hours later, someone impersonating Melendez called 911 and claimed his father had shot his younger sister inside the family’s home near Tucson. The caller was not Melendez, and investigators later determined the incident was likely another swatting attempt.
Dispatchers and deputies allegedly failed to connect the emergency call with the earlier warning Melendez had provided. His attorneys argue there were multiple indicators the report was fake, including inconsistent information from the caller, the lack of expected background sounds during a shooting report, and the use of an out-of-state phone number.
Deputies arrived at the home believing they were responding to an active shooting. Unable to gain entry through the front door, deputies broke a rear bedroom window with a shovel and entered the room, ordering whoever was inside to put their hands up.
Melendez, who was inside the room and holding his mother’s legally registered handgun, can be heard reacting as deputies entered.
Within seconds, deputies fired eight shots. Two rounds struck Melendez, causing injuries that included a shattered leg, broken ribs, and a spinal cord injury that left him unable to walk.
Melendez’s attorneys say he believed someone had broken into the home after hearing the window shatter and grabbed the firearm while trying to protect his mother.
“He did everything he was supposed to do,” attorney Dev Sethi said. “He immediately reported the swatting threats against him, he asked the sheriff’s department for help, and he believed PCSD personnel when they promised to keep him safe.”
Carmen Melendez, who was inside the home during the shooting, told Tucson, Arizona, CBS affiliate KOLD that she went rushing toward her son after the shots were fired.
“I walked towards my son. He was on the floor,” she said. “He said, ‘I love you, Mom.'”
The filing seeks $80 million from the county and another $80 million from the sheriff’s department, along with $16 million for emotional damages allegedly suffered by Carmen Melendez.
Melendez further asserts his injuries ended his plans to pursue a career in automotive engineering after attending trade school.
The filing names multiple deputies, dispatch personnel, county officials, and the Pima County Attorney’s Office. The sheriff’s department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Under Arizona law, Pima County and the sheriff’s department have 60 days to respond to the notice of claim before it is considered denied, allowing Melendez to move forward with a lawsuit.
The post ‘Nothing’s going to happen’: Man was shot, paralyzed by deputies who ignored swatting warnings, filing states first appeared on Law & Crime.
