9 officers wounded, suspect dead after shooting, standoff

By Bobbi Jo Kelly, Peter Valencia

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    PHOENIX (KPHO) — A suspect is dead, a woman is in critical condition, and nine police officers are recovering after an early morning standoff turned into a shooting at a south Phoenix home Friday.

How it started

According to the Phoenix Police Department, it all unfolded in the area of 54th Avenue between Lower Buckeye and Broadway roads shortly after 2 a.m. Sgt. Andy Williams said it started with a 911 call about a woman who had been shot. A single officer was the first to arrive. “He was actually invited by the suspect,” Williams said. “As he approached the doorway, the suspect ambushed him with a gun and shot him several times.” That officer was hit several times but was able to get to safety. Backup arrived a short time later, according to Williams.

Those officers surrounded the house and started yelling to the occupants to come outside. At one point, a man with a baby in his arms came out of the house. He put the baby in a carrier on the ground and then put his hands up to show officers he was not a threat. Officers ordered him to walk backwards to them with his hands up, which he did. That’s when the suspect opened fire again. The baby was not hurt, but four more officers were shot. Another four were injured by shrapnel. Williams said two officers returned fire. A videographer who was there recorded everything.

Standoff

The suspect barricaded himself inside the house, and SWAT officers tried to negotiate with him. When they eventually went inside, they found him dead. They also found the wounded woman who was the subject of the initial call. Williams said she is in critical condition.

At this point, it’s not clear what led to the initial shooting, and detectives are trying to determine how everyone is connected, including the man with the baby. “[There’s] no information to suggest that he’s part of the ambush, but it’s an ongoing investigation,” Williams said. Investigators believe the suspect and the wounded woman had been a couple.

“If I seem upset, it’s because I am,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said, emphasizing the struggles and safety concerns law enforcement officials face every single day. “This is senseless, doesn’t need to happen and [it] continues to happen over and over again.” The shooting comes two months after a fellow officer, Tyler Moldovan, was shot eight times, including once to the head.

“It’s terrifying”

“This is the first time anything extreme like this has happened here,” Classie Taylor, who lives down the street from the shooting scene, told Arizona’s Family. “It’s terrifying to know something like this could be happening outside your own home.”

“This is a little rattling for me,” neighbor Kameron Jackson agreed. “My house is like 50 yards away.”

“I hope they’re going to be OK,” Kim Martin said of the injured officers. “They put their life on the line all the time for the neighborhoods and to see that happen is sad because they, too, have families.”

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