A 24-year-old Tucson man who says he personally alerted the Pima County Sheriff’s Department about a swatting threat against him is now paralyzed from the chest down after deputies opened fire on him during what turned out to be a fake emergency call, according to a legal claim filed against the county.
Axeel Melendez says hackers accessed his personal information while he was gaming online and threatened to send an armed police response to his home if he didn’t pay them. On April 8, he called authorities himself to report the threat. A dispatcher assured him nothing would happen, telling him police don’t simply respond to unverified threats of that nature.
Two days later, someone impersonating Melendez called 911 claiming a shooting was happening inside his home. Investigators later determined the call was fraudulent, but deputies responded believing it was real. According to the claim, warning signs — including an out-of-state number and missing background noise — were overlooked, and no one connected the call to Melendez’s earlier report.
When deputies couldn’t get through the front door, they broke a bedroom window to enter. Melendez, startled and holding his mother’s legally owned handgun, was shot twice within seconds. He suffered a shattered leg, broken ribs, and a spinal injury that has left him unable to walk.
His mother, who was in the home at the time, says she rushed to her son after hearing gunfire and that his first words to her were that he loved her.
The claim, filed as a required precursor to a lawsuit under Arizona law, seeks $176 million in total damages, citing lost future career plans and lasting trauma for both Melendez and his mother. County officials have not commented, citing the pending case. Authorities now have 60 days to respond before the family can proceed with a formal lawsuit.