A gunman clad in tactical gear and armed with a semi-automatic rifle killed 2 and injured 5 others in Phoenix shooting, police say
By Dakin Andone and Raja Razek, CNNUpdated: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 19:09:37 GMTSource: CNNA gunman who killed two people and injured five others -- including two police officers -- in Phoenix Sunday was arm
By Dakin Andone and Raja Razek, CNNUpdated: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 19:09:37 GMT
Source: CNN
A gunman who killed two people and injured five others -- including two police officers -- in Phoenix Sunday was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and wearing tactical gear, according to police.
The shooter, who police said appears to have died by suicide, was also found with several magazines, incendiary devices, a gas mask and helmet, the Phoenix Police Department said in a news release, adding surveillance footage shows the gunman throwing a Molotov cocktail at a restaurant window, though it failed to ignite.
The suspect has yet to be positively identified, police said, and authorities have not named the victims. Of the two killed, one was an adult man and the other an adult woman, the release said. Both police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, as did three other bystanders, all of whom are adult men.
One of the officers remains hospitalized, but the other injured victims have since been released.
Phoenix officers responded to a call about shots fired in an area near several businesses along West Deer Valley Road Sunday evening, around 8:30 p.m. local time, the news release said. As officers arrived, the shooter "immediately opened fire on several fully marked" patrol vehicles, leaving four "riddled with bullets."
One officer was shot in the shoulder while the other was struck by shrapnel, the release said. The former managed to exit his vehicle and fire toward the suspect before other officers helped remove him from the scene so he could receive medical attention. More officers evacuated businesses in the area, the release said, taking bystanders to safety. But at some point during the shooting, the three others bystanders were wounded.
The early investigation indicates the "shooting spree" began at a local motel, where surveillance video shows the gunman leaving a room before opening fire, the release said.
"The suspect is seen firing his rifle into the motel then turning the rifle on a car pulling into the parking lot," it said, killing two people inside. The shooter is then seen throwing the Molotov cocktail around the time officers arrived, per police.
According to the surveillance footage, the gunman is seen "making his way through the parking lot and then falling to the ground." While it appears the gunman took his own life, it will be up to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner to determine an official manner of death, police said.
The shooting remains under investigation, and authorities aim to search a nearby motel room but are waiting for a search warrant, the release said.
The incident was just one of several shootings across the country this weekend, including one at a grocery store in Bend, Oregon, where authorities said a gunman with an AR-15 style rifle killed two people and injured a third. In Houston, another gunman set fire to a building and then shot the people who fled, killing three and injuring two, the police chief said. Other shootings took place at the Coney Island boardwalk in New York; a Sikh Temple in Stockton, California; and outside a hotel in Indianapolis.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams condemned the shooting in a news conference late Sunday night, calling it "another example of gun violence in our community."
"How many more officers have to be shot? How many more community members have to be killed before those in our community take a stand? This is not a Phoenix police issue; this is a community issue," Williams said. "If not now, when?"
