Shortly before police released a video of the deadly Walmart brawl, the Gaver family declared they were not guilty of all of the charges given to them by the Cottonwood, Arizona police. But who are the Gavers and how did they end up fighting police in a Walmart parking lot?
In a related report by the Inquisitr , reports say the Walmart brawl initially started inside the retail store when a female Walmart worker was allegedly attacked by one of the family members in the women’s bathroom. The police accompanied the Walmart employee to the parking lot to speak with the family members involved. One officer told the Gavers that they “need to separate these folks and talk to them.” Someone then responds, “No, you are not going to separate me from my parents,” and, “don’t touch me.” That’s when the entire Gaver family began to fight back against police.
If you watch the Walmart brawl video, the fight turned deadly when 21-year-old Enoch Gaver allegedly began struggling with Sgt. Jeremy Daniels for his gun. The gun went off, shooting Daniels in the leg, and another officer shot Enoch in return.
“I believe it was justified,” Fanning said after police released video of the deadly Walmart brawl. “[Enoch Gaver] still had control of Sgt. Daniels’ weapon. He was on top of Sgt. Daniels and Sgt. Daniels had been shot.”
The police tried using Taser guns, pepper spray, and stun batons, but the Walmart brawl still ended with another shooting. Enoch Gaver was killed in the Walmart brawl, and 28-year-old David Gaver was shot in the stomach. The five adult members of the Gaver were sent to jail and two juveniles, an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, face charges in juvenile court.
Not much is known about why the Gavers were in Cottonwood, Arizona. According to the Idaho Statesman , a Facebook account belonging to 55-year-old Peter Gaver says the family used to live in Boise, where they lived for 21 years. The family once received a Habitat For Humanity home in 2004, but the house was returned to the organization in 2010.
The Gaver family left Boise in February and headed south in search of work. The family was a local band known as both Matthew 24 Now and Busking in the Son, and they were apparently looking for opportunities to spread their faith in addition to panhandling for money as musicians. Many posts on the Facebook account are prayers or Bible verses, but several of them document their trip toward Cottonwood.
When the Gaver’s went to court, all of them denied they were guilty of their charges. According to the Verde Independent , this was days before the police released a video of the deadly Walmart brawl. All of the family members were charged with resisting arrest and hindering prosecution, but Peter’s wife, Ruth, 52, and her three sons (Nathaniel, Jeremiah, and David) face additional charges, including riot, aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and hindering prosecution.
[Image via YouTube]
