Todd Julius Pruitt

How they died

Deadly force

Officer Brandon Azuelo, 22, was in his fifth day of training at the Tucson Police Department when he responded to back up an officer who was chasing an auto-theft suspect. As officers approached, Pruitt was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone, saying he wouldn't be taken alive, police said. Pruitt then pulled his hand out of his waistband and pointed a finger at the officers, as though he were holding a gun. Azuelo defended himself, police said, shooting and killing Azuelo. Police called it "suicide by cop."

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Todd Julius Pruitt, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources