Man dead after officer-involved shooting in Mesa

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A 46-year-old man is dead after an officer-involved shooting Friday evening in Mesa.

Police responded to a call from the man’s adult child around 5 p.m. in a neighborhood northwest of Southern Avenue and Stapley Drive. The child said their father, Thomas McGinty, was having a mental health crisis.

When officers arrived, they tried to speak with McGinty, but he refused to talk with them. A Mesa police spokesperson said McGinty started walking toward the officers with a large knife and refused to stop, which was when he was shot and killed. No officers involved were injured during the incident.

The Mesa Police Department started the Crisis Intervention Team in 2004, pairing officers with social workers on responses dealing with mental health crises. However, in 2016, after the high-profile police shooting of Kayden Clarke, then-police chief Ramon Batista said the department would implement a full-time, city-wide crisis intervention team and revise its crisis response training within the department.

Arizona’s Family has asked Mesa police if a social worker was with the response team, and we will update the story when a Mesa Police Department spokesperson replies.

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