Phoenix police report shooting woman with handgun at hotel

Phoenix police shot a woman Wednesday morning at a hotel near Interstate 17 and Peoria Avenue after officials say she fired at officers.

Police arrived to the hotel just before 7 a.m. after a 911 caller said he saw a woman fire a gun, the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement. Officers found the woman and learned she had a misdemeanor warrant and drugs in her purse, spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson said.

Thompson said the situation was calm, and the woman told several officersshe did not have a weapon. When they tried to detain her, Thompson said things “suddenly went from zero to 60 miles an hour.”

Police say the woman struggled and pulled a handgun from her waist.

“She fired a shot and officers returned fire,” police said in the statement. According to Thompson, the shot narrowly missed officers.

Police believe the woman is 24 years old. She was hospitalized in the intensive care unit following the shooting on Wednesday morning and was expected to survive, according to the department. No officers were injured.

It was the third shooting in a week for law enforcement officers in the Phoenix metro area. Phoenix police shot and killed 28-year-old James Garcia on Saturday, and Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 70-year-old Rodney Liveringhouse on Sunday in Mesa.

The shooting will be investigated by the Phoenix Police Department’s Professional Standards Bureau and Violent Crimes Unit, and will later be reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Thompson said body camera videos will be available, but he did not provide a timeline for releasing the footage.

Although the investigation was in its early stages, police said they believe the woman may have been staying at the hotel and asked to leave before shots were fired.