Police shoot 2 in one day
Phoenix police on Saturday fatally shot two people. Law enforcement has shot 26 people in Maricopa County so far in 2018; 18 people have died.
An officer with the Phoenix Police Department shot and killed a man amid an exchange of gunfire in a neighborhood near Central and Southern avenues Saturday afternoon, sending lawenforcement investigators to the second fatal police shooting of the day.
The first fatal shooting occurred early Saturday morning. The two men were the 25th and 26th person to be shot by law enforcement in Maricopa County in 2018 that The Arizona Republic has reported on; 18 of the shootings have been fatal.
No officers were injured in either shooting.
Sgt. Mark Tovar, a Phoenix police spokesman, said officers were called to the area on a report of a car that had crashed into a fence at approximately 2 p.m.
Police found the vehicle and the driver in a field just north of Third Street and St. Charles Avenue.
Tovar said the man pulled out a gun while sitting in the car after an initial conversation with police. He then exited the vehicle and shot “in the direction” of police, according to Tovar. Officers returned fire, Tovar said, and took cover when the man shot back.
The man “was stopped” after he was struck at least once in a second exchange of gunfire with police, Tovar said.
The man, whose name has not been released, died at the scene.
Early Saturday, Phoenix police shot and killed a man following a multihour pursuit across the Valley.
Tovar said officers responded to two separate reports of shots fired near 28th Avenue and Bethany Home Road at about 2 a.m. They determined the man was driving a dark-colored car. Officers located the car at about 3 a.m., and the driver refused to stop for police before he continued into Ahwatukee Foothills and then the Scottsdale area, Tovar said. Officers were unable to stop the car with spikes.
The man attempted to steal a car near an off-ramp near Loops 101 and 202 in Tempe, but the female driver refused to give up her car, Tovar said. “The suspect also pointed a weapon at a DPS officer at that location,” Tovar said.
At some point, the man switched from the dark-colored car to a white minivan. Tovar said he did not know how the man got the minivan, but police do not believe it was a carjacking.
The man then fled the scene, but two of his tires were damaged, Tovar said. He continued west driving on rims before the car came to a stop near 13th Avenue and Thomas Road at about 5 a.m.
“He engaged officers,” Tovar said. “He did have a weapon.”