Yihyun Jeong

The Republic | azcentral.com

WINSLOW — Official details have been slow in coming in the March 27 fatal shooting of Loreal Tsingine by a Winslow police officer, a case that remains under investigation and under national scrutiny from those who call for accountability in her death.

The few details available from the Winslow Police Department about the events that unfolded on Easter Sunday: Tsingine had brandished a pair of scissors at Officer Austin Shipley when he attempted to take her into custody on the suspicion of shoplifting at a nearby Circle K. Shipley, who police said felt a substantial threat, fired five rounds from his weapon.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is conducting an independent investigation at the request of the Winslow Police Department.

Ryanle Benally, 32, who was inside the store when Tsingine had allegedly stolen items and a witness to the shooting, told The Republic he has spoken out publicly about what he saw first-hand because he believes that authorities were “hiding something.”

He said Winslow police, including Police Chief Stephen Garnett, had refused to take his statement and contact information after the shooting and that it took DPS detectives five days to get in touch.

Benally said he was brought to the Winslow Chamber of Commerce building last week and was interviewed by two DPS detectives.

“What did you see, Mr. Benally?” Benally said one of the men asked him, clicking on the tape recorder to signify the start of the interview.

“And I told them everything.”

The Republic asked the Winslow Police Department multiple times to respond to Benally’s claims. The department has referred all questions about the case to DPS.

DPS so far has declined to comment about the shooting and its investigation. But here is what Benally said.

'She’s back again. Can you come get her?'

About 4 p.m. on the warm Sunday, Benally said he and his 17-year-old stepson, Camron Canuho, had finished installing drywall at a home near Fourth and Williamson streets, when they decided to go directly across the street to the Circle K for some cold sodas.

Camron also wanted to grab a bag of jalapeño kettle chips to eat on their way home.

Benally said they were in line to pay when Tsingine came into the store, kicking open the door with her feet. She walked directly behind the cashier’s counter and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. She walked over to where the liquor was stocked and grabbed some shooters, he said.

She stuffed them in a white purse she wore across her body, according to Benally, and walked over to the hot dog station and began to eat one while standing in the middle of the store.

“Everyone is just looking at her, following her around the store with their eyes,” he said.

Benally said he recognized Tsingine from a few hours earlier that day, when he had come to the store to grab some items while working. She had entered right in front of him.

Tsingine had grabbed two six-packs of beer and ran out, according to Benally.

This time, she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave.

The cashier picked up the phone and called the police, he said.

“She’s back again. Can you come get her?”

Tsingine kicked the door on her way out, Benally said.

'This is why you don't steal'

"Where is she?” an officer asked when he walked into the Circle K shortly after the cashier had reported the shoplifting.

Benally said everyone in the store pointed outside. She had headed west on Fourth Street.

The officer called in the directions on his radio. Benally said almost immediately he could see a police car speeding down the street with its siren on.

“'Look, this is going to be a lesson learned right here, we’re going to see her get arrested,'” he said as he looked down at this stepson. “'This is why you don’t steal.'”

Benally said he and Camron walked in the direction they had seen Tsingine walking and toward where the patrol car had just zoomed by.

The car came to a stop and an officer ran out toward Tsingine, who was walking on the sidewalk. Benally said he recognized the officer as Austin Shipley, who had deployed a Taser at Benally in a domestic-violence call at his house almost a year ago.

Benally said Shipley grabbed her by the wrist and then, Benally said, he saw her body fly.

“I don’t know why he did that. Her whole body flew over him and slammed into the concrete. Then he put his knee behind her,” Benally said, as he got on his own knee on his living room floor, animating what he saw.

At that moment, the officer who had responded to the Circle K pulled up to the scene and got out of his car, Benally said.

He said that was the moment he believed Shipley would place his cuffs on Tsingine.

“He had both her arms. But he started screaming, ‘Stop resisting.’ It got real loud.”'

According to Benally, Shipley stood up and pulled out his firearm.

“It was rapid-fire. Five times,” Benally said as he stood up and formed his hands into a gun. “Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,”

Benally lowered his hands and looked down at the carpet.

'I think that wasn’t supposed to happen'

Camron dropped his bag of chips, Benally said, and looked up at his stepfather.

“I think that wasn’t supposed to happen,” Benally said Camron told him.

Benally told him to stay back as he ran closer to where Tsingine lay on her back on the concrete. She was twitching and gasping for air.

Shipley stood at a distance, leaning against his car, Benally said. The other officer stood by.

Benally said he offered to do CPR, but the officer held up his arms and told him to stand back.

“I was so upset. I started shouting,” Benally said. “They shot her and they wouldn’t let me help.’"

The whole neighborhood came out after hearing the succession of gunshots and Benally’s screams. A crowd began to form.

At that time, a brown Lincoln pulled up to the scene and Chief Garnett exited the car, Benally said.

“'Chief, I seen the whole thing. Take my statement,'” Benally said he told him.

Instead, Benally said Garnett talked to Shipley and Shipley went and sat in the passenger seat of a fire truck.

Benally said he approached the officer who had been at the Circle K and said, “'You seen the same thing I seen. He shot her dead. Tell them.'”

“He looked at me like he knew I was right. But he stayed quiet.”

Both officers were wearing body cameras, Benally said.

He and Camron stayed at the scene until 7 p.m., and no law-enforcement officer took his statement, Benally said.

“They cried and I cried with them”

Jennifer Jaramillo, 44, a cashier at a Circle K near the one Tsingine visited, said cashiers in Winslow make calls to police almost every day.

“It’s a very common thing here, stealing,” said Jaramillo, who has worked at the same location for 19 years. “It’s a common thing for all convenience stores.”

Jaramillo said it is company protocol to report every shoplifting incident. Employees are required to log each occurrence along with a suspect’s description. Cashiers learn quickly to pick up on someone’s behavior when they walk into the store.

“Their body language can say it all,” she said. "But I would never expect a call I make to escalate to anything like what happened to her."

Nearly two weeks since the shooting, Benally and Camron said they were still shaken by the events they witnessed.

Benally’s wife, Noreen Canuho, 39, is particularly worried about Camron. She said she is researching different forms of counseling that could be helpful for her son.

“When he got home, he came running to me and said, ‘Mom this is what the cop did. He went over her and …,’” she said trailing off as she looked down at her hands. “And now he’s quiet.”

DPS detectives reached out to the family again Thursday, requesting an interview with Camron. The teen is nervous and reluctant to talk about the events, Canuho said.

Benally said he was troubled by some of the information released by authorities, who said Tsingine threatened the officer with scissors. Benally did not see any scissors, he said.

Winslow police have stated that the second officer didn’t arrive at the scene until after the shooting.

“We seen the same thing,” Benally said. “He said nothing.”

He said the discrepancies and the lack of action in her death is making the ordeal tougher for him to process.

Raul Garcia, a DPS spokesman, said his agency would make no further comments while the shooting was under investigation.

Benally, who is Navajo, said he met Tsingine’s family at a vigil held on April 1 at the site where he had witnessed the final moments of Tsingine’s life. They had requested that he not speak about what he saw that day, because they wanted to keep the event peaceful.

Instead, the family invited him to their home on the Navajo Reservation, about 40 miles north of Winslow.

“They cried and I cried with them,” Benally said.

“If nothing happens from this, something is very wrong with the department.” Benally said, holding his 11-month-old daughter, Natasha.

“This will be a message that any human can do that to another human. And the community will always fear them.”