GILBERT — Four people who knew each other had taken psychedelic mushrooms before one of them stabbed and shot three others, killing two, in an August attack that ended when a Gilbert officer shot the suspect, police said in newly released information and body camera video.
Police said 28-year-old Brett Eschliman attacked the group on Aug. 1 at a large residential property near Lindsay and Elliot roads. Delaney Bristow, 32, and Caleb Worley, 30, died. A third person, a woman, survived.
Dispatchers received two related 911 calls starting at 10:50 p.m., including one from a caller who said someone had killed her boyfriend, according to police.
Officers who arrived heard a woman screaming and found broken windows and a broken sliding glass door. Police said Eschliman lunged at one officer, swiped at his rifle and went back inside. When an officer entered a bedroom, police said, Eschliman lunged at him with a long metal object aimed at his head and neck, and the officer fired two rounds, both striking him. He died at the scene.
Investigators said Eschliman, who lived in a fifth-wheel trailer on the property, first attacked the man in a rear structure, then a woman in his trailer, then the surviving woman. Police said the survivor found a rifle in a closet and hid it, then called 911.
Police said investigators found an aluminum-handled mop, a handgun, a rifle and two knives at the scene.
The East Valley Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the officer’s use of force, with the Mesa Police Department leading the case, AZFamily reported.
Sources: AZFamily. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Kefr4000 / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
