Officer who fatally shot Navajo woman resigns

PHOENIX — The Arizona police officer who fatally shot a 27-year-old Navajo woman in March officially resigned from the police department, Winslow city officials said Monday.

Officer Austin Shipley resigned after a meeting in which he was confronted with the results of an internal-affairs investigation into the March 27 shooting of Loreal Tsingine that was concluded last week by the Mesa Police Department, according to the City Manager's Office. The resignation was effective immediately.

"The results of this investigation were reviewed by Christopher Vasquez, the interim director of the Winslow Police Department," said a statement released by City Manager Stephen Pauken's office. "After meeting with Officer Shipley today, he made the decision to resign."

Pauken  said Shipley met with his lieutenant and was provided the findings of the investigation, along with a memo from Vasquez. After the meeting, Shipley returned with a letter of resignation.

Body-camera video shows fatal police shooting in Ariz.

"He had as much time as he needed," Pauken said. "He wasn't forced to resign."

The documents pertaining to the internal-affairs investigation have not yet been made publicly available, as the city attorney has not had a chance to review the documents, Pauken said.

Shipley fatally shot Tsingine five times on Easter Sunday while responding to a report of a convenience-store theft. Tsingine was accused of shoplifting at a Circle K and had been brandishing a pair of scissors when confronted by Shipley, Winslow police said.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced in July that his office decided not to file criminal charges against Shipley after an investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

"After a careful review of the facts surrounding the case, including available video evidence and witness statements from all involved, my office found no evidence of criminal conduct on the part of Officer Shipley," Montgomery's statement said.

Shipley's personnel file, originally released to The Arizona Republic on April 6, did not contain many documents relating to disciplinary actions taken against Shipley in his three-year career at the Winslow Police Department, although letters of disposition referred to multiple investigative reports.

Additional public-records requests were filed. The results revealed that, during his time with Winslow police, Shipley held a suspect at gunpoint five times, drew his Taser four times and used physical force in at least three situations.

Killing of Navajo woman by cop sparks outcry

Shipley deployed his Taser twice, once at a 15-year-old girl who had her back toward him, and another time at a man restrained to a gurney, records showed.

Shipley also was found to have used vulgar language with another 15-year-old girl.

Little is available in the way of biographical information on Shipley, who grew up in Winslow. He completed his law-enforcement training in May 2012 and joined the Winslow Police Department in 2013 after an unsuccessful attempt to join the  Department of Public Safety and the Scottsdale Police Department.

Shipley has not made any statements or public appearances since March 27.

Changes are still in the works for the tumultuous police in the northeastern Arizona city, where tensions linger months after Tsingine’s death.

A review of police department operations and an independent U.S. Justice Department civil-rights investigation are still expected in the coming months.

Vasquez, a former Pinal County sheriff and Arizona native, stepped in after longtime Winslow police Chief Stephen Garnett retired Aug. 10, the same day the city released the  public safety department's full investigative report on Tsingine's death.

Follow Yihyun Jeong on Twitter: @yihyun_jeong