What's your opinion? Does he sound like a trigger-happy cop, or what? Please leave a comment.Officer James Peters, 37, who has been with the Scottsdale Police Department since 2000, has filed for accidental disability, which means that he suffered an injury on the job that prevents him from doing his job.
Peters was involved in seven shootings since 2002, six of them fatal, including the most recent incident on Feb. 14. That day, Peters shot 50-year-old John Loxas after police were called to a house in the 7700 block of East Garfield Street.
Neighbors had called 911 earlier and said Loxas had threatened them with a handgun. Peters, a former member of the department's SWAT team, was one of six officers who responded to the call. He fired at Loxas as he was holding a child in front of him.
Police said the shots were fired to prevent Loxas from re-entering the house with the child. Each of Peters' previous shootings have been determined justified through an internal investigation, as well as an external investigation by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
His previous fatal shooting occurred in March 2010, when Peters shot and killed a man suspected in a string of bank robberies. At the time, The Republic reported that the city had settled in 2009 with the family of one of the people involved in a different fatal shooting for $75,000 but denied liability.
In another case, Peters was honored for his actions in responding to a hostage situation and the hostage thanked the officer for saving his life and shooting the suspect.
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