Phoenix police ID man killed in standoff that hurt 2 officers

The Phoenix Police Department has identified the man killed during a police standoff at a south Phoenix home on Sunday morning as 32-year-old Michael Austin.

He was shot in an exchange of gunfire that left one officer with a gunshot wound and another injured after being bitten by a K-9 unit dog.

Police said officers arrived at the home about 11:30 p.m. Saturday after receiving reports that Austin wouldn’t allow at least three people to leave the home near the 2600 block of East Atlanta Avenue, near 28th Street and Roeser Road.

Police had been called to the residence a few hours earlier, but people inside said everyone was fine, police said.

A second 911 caller, however, told police that Austin had “pistol whipped” a 69-year-old woman inside the residence, police said.

Police again arrived and the man refused to come out. Members of the department’s Special Assignments Unit arrived and tried to negotiate with Austin throughout the night and into early Sunday when Austin began firing his gun, police said.

“As the rescue team moved up to the front door, the suspect was seen still armed, standing near the victims, walking toward the front of the house,” police said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. “SAU officers shot at the suspect and a team of officers immediately entered the residence.”

Officials noted that one officer was shot and another was bitten by a police K-9 as police entered the residence, which police initially described as a “chaotic” scene.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams spoke outside the Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix on Sunday morning where she said both officers were expected to make a full recovery. Police haven’t released the identities of the officers or the victims.

Officials say the officer who was bitten by the dog has since been discharged from the hospital while the officer who was shot remains hospitalized.

Police said they removed the victims — two women and one man — from the home. The two women suffered gunshot injuries and were initially said to be in extremely critical condition, but later were updated to having injuries that were not life-threatening. The male victim was unharmed, police added.

Police did not say how the female victims were injured, noting the investigation would be a lengthy process.

“Our investigators must collect numerous items of evidence, multiple firearms, interview everyone involved to include the victims, witnesses and officers,” the written statement said. “Once all the evidence is collected it then must be analyzed. This is an enormous undertaking and we are working towards having a better understanding of what happened during this chaotic and tragic incident.”