Gun Incident Leads to Arrest in Flagstaff
Flagstaff Police apprehended 30-year-old Tyler John Edmonds after he reportedly discharged a firearm near the Bad Dees Food Joint. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. The arrest took place on August 28, facilitated by the city’s Flock Safety license plate reader technology, which helped locate Edmonds’ vehicle.
Earlier that morning, around 1:24 AM, Edmonds was involved in a dispute with others outside the popular late-night spot before he supposedly jumped into an SUV to flee. Flagstaff PD employed crowd surveillance footage along with additional technological resources to identify him.
In the afternoon around 3 PM, detectives from the Criminal Investigation Service, supported by the Northern Arizona Regional SWAT team, executed a search warrant in the 5000 block of North Copeland Lane, resulting in Edmonds’ safe arrest.
He is now being held at the Coconino County Detention Facility, facing charges of disorderly conduct involving a weapon, discharging a firearm within city limits, and unlawful possession of firearms.
The use of Flock Safety plate reader technology has sparked controversy across the nation, notably prompting the city of Sedona to halt the use of its cameras indefinitely following public outcry.
This automated license plate reader system captures images of vehicle license plates and processes them into readable data, also cross-referencing with databases from national and local law enforcement. According to Chris Dowell, the patrol commander at Sedona Police Station, the camera does not have facial recognition capabilities or record video.
