Man dead, officer hurt in Chandler police shooting
A man is dead after being shot by a Chandler police officer outside a hotel near Interstate 10 and Chandler Boulevard on Monday morning.
The confrontation occurred about 7 a.m. after officers contacted a man and a woman inside the Hampton Inn near 54th Street and Chandler Boulevard, police said.
Police later identified the man as 32year-old Kevin Smallman.
Smallman had outstanding warrants with multiple police agencies, including the Department of Public Safety and Casa Grande, according to Seth Tyler, Chandler police spokesman.
The officer involved in the shooting had at least one prior contact with the vehicle and Smallman, Tyler said. The officer may have recognized the Toyota Prius driven by Smallman and went into the Hampton Inn looking for him. Police later confirmed that Smallman and the woman were staying at the hotel.
The officer made contact with Smallman and the unidentified woman in the lobby, police said.
Smallman started to walk away, and the officer told him to stop. Smallman then ran toward his vehicle, a Toyota Prius, and the officer and the woman followed, police said. The officer entered Smallman’s vehicle, according to police.
Police said Smallman, the woman and the officer were found on top of one another in the car, which crashed into a block wall in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn.
It is unclear at what point the shooting occurred.
The officer’s weapon was recovered from the scene, but no other weapon has been found, Tyler said.
The officer sustained a head injury, and the woman was hospitalized, police said.The woman is not under arrest at this time, police said. She was transported to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Tyler said Smallman was listed in Chandler police’s system as a transient.