Ariz. police shoot man suspected of killing 3

PHOENIX — Authorities are investigating what led a Phoenix man to gun down three people at a neighbor’s home before he was killed in a shootout with police.

Police were called to a home late Wednesday afternoon after a woman reported her husband was firing rounds from a rifle, said Sgt. Alan Pfohl. As officers began to set up a perimeter around the home, they saw a man matching the description of the suspect drive by and stop in the street.

Pfohl said officers then heard a gunshot from the man’s truck. They ordered him to drop his weapon but the suspect fired a second round from his vehicle. An officer armed with a rifle returned fire.

A police dog extracted Edward Hallinan, 39, from the truck and he later died from his injuries at a hospital, Pfohl said.

While officers were dealing with the suspect, a police helicopter spotted three men with gunshot wounds in the yard of a nearby home. Firefighters pronounced all of them dead.

Pfohl on Thursday identified two of the victims as Vidal Hernandez-Gutierrez, 26, and Francisco Javier Galindo, 21. The third victim’s identity was not released but he is believed to be in his 20s.

Three adults and three children were at the scene but uninjured. Pfohl did not disclose a possible motive or how the suspect and victims might have known each other.