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Phoenix Officer Involved in Shooting
Phoenix police have identified a 44-year-old man killed in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday as Jose Aaron Gonzalez.
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According to police, at 6:30 a.m. officers were called to a home near 31st Avenue and Roosevelt Street to serve a search warrant for the Arizona Department of Transportation regarding an investigation into identity theft and forgery.
Officers reportedly made contact with a woman and three children inside the home, who exited the residence without incident.
Police say they then saw Gonzalez flee down the hallway where he hid in a back room, where he stayed inside a closet armed with a handgun.
As officers were still outside the home, Gonzalez reportedly left his hiding location and confronted officers, pointing a gun at them from the hallway.
Police say three officers then shot Gonzalez, ending the threat. He was pronounced dead at the scene
No additional suspects were located.
Police say they will be conducting standard criminal and internal inquiries into the shooting and ADOT will be continuing their investigation as well.
Suspect Killed In Officer Involved Shooting
A man died following a shooting involving two police officers in west Phoenix.
Police were called to the area of 59th Avenue and Thomas Road around 1:15 p.m. Friday after receiving reports of a domestic violence incident between 27-year-old David Gardea and a woman.
Police say Gardea pointed a gun at officers after they arrived and exited their vehicle.
One of the officers, fired his weapon at Gardea as he fled up a driveway on Mulberry Drive. Police say he turned and fired his weapon at the officers, forcing them to fire back. Gardea was shot and died at the scene.
No officers were injured during the incident, authorities said. Detectives recovered a semi-automatic handgun at the scene.
The officers have since been identified as 38-year-old Nicholas Chacon and 24-year-old Anthony Deida. Chacon has 17 years of service under his belt, while Deida has 10 years.
The shooting comes just two days after officers were involved in a shooting with an alleged carjacking suspect in the area of 33rd Avenue and Washington Street.
Police Investigate Shooting
A dangerous scene unfolded in a Glendale neighborhood after shots were fired and a police officer was injured.
This happened on Friday morning near 43rd Avenue and Olive.
Sgt. Tiffany Smith with Glendale Police says a multi-agency task force was attempting to arrest a violent suspect with multiple felony warrants. As they encountered that suspect, the individual fired shots and a Glendale police sergeant was struck.
The male suspect then fled the area on foot into the neighborhood. Police established a perimeter and sent tactical officers from different agencies.
The Glendale Police sergeant who was shot was part of a taskforce that had been watching and tracking the 44-year-old suspect, who officers tried to arrest at a parking lot. He is described as a senior sergeant with 20 years of service with Glendale Police.
Sgt. Smith’s Statement:
- At that time, the suspect fled on foot, and the officers pursued on foot. That’s when the suspect engaged the officers and shot the sergeant.
The suspect ran into a neighborhood. Residents in the neighborhood were told to stay indoors, while officers from several agencies combed through yards, peered over backyard fences, as they looked for the suspect.
After nearly an hour, Phoenix SWAT team members cornered the suspect at a home’s side yard. Phoenix Police said the suspect fired at officers first, and SWAT team members returned fire.
Analyse Sanchez Statement:
And then we heard shootings, and it went on for a little bit. It was like boom boom boom. It was very loud.
The suspect was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have identified a man who was shot and killed Wednesday by an officer with the Surprise Police Department as 61-year-old George M. Pappas.
Pappas was said to be holding a knife at a business on Bell and El Mirage roads when he was shot and killed.
Officer Shooting
Officers were initially called to the business to perform a welfare check, according to a Surprise police spokesman, but he did not offer additional details about the events that led to the shooting.
Pappas was the second person shot by a police officer in the Valley on Wednesday. Phoenix police shot and injured a man suspected of arson earlier that day.
Diana Greene, owner of Molly and Friend’s pet grooming, said that she had just moved her business into the complex. She described hearing a loud bang before noon.
Diana Greene’s Statement:
We had seen two police officers run up to the open office back there, it’s a rental office, and (we) heard a gunshot.
Greene’s Statement:
Immediately the police came walking back down and then they went back up with two stretchers and came back down with two empty stretchers, and then the coroner’s van pulled in.
Pappas died at the scene.
Law-enforcement officers have shot 21 people, killing 12 of them, so far in 2018.
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