By David Schwartz
PHOENIX (Reuters) – A shooting at a Phoenix residence left one suspect dead and a woman in critical condition and sent five officers to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the city’s police department said on Friday.
An infant was also rescued from the home and another adult male was detained in an incident that may have stemmed from a domestic dispute. It escalated after the suspect barricaded himself in the property, prompting the city’s SWAT unit to get involved, the Phoenix Police Department said.
The suspect was later found dead after police secured the property. A total of nine officers were struck by bullet shrapnel and all had non-life threatening injuries, according to authorities. Five were admitted to the hospital. Four of them were recovering and one was “on the road to recovery,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said.
“This is senseless, it doesn’t need to happen, and it continues to happen over and over again,” Williams said in a press conference outside a Phoenix hospital.
Police arrived at the scene after an emergency call at about 2:15 a.m. local time about a woman being shot. The suspect invited police inside the residence, but as one officer approached, the suspect shot multiple times, Sergeant Andy Williams said.
A man later emerged from the house with an infant that he placed on the ground before being detained, police said.
As other officers attempted to bring the child to safety, four more officers were struck by gunfire from inside the home, after which the suspect barricaded himself inside, according to a police statement.
Police said the baby was not injured.
The woman and the suspect are believed to have been formerly in a relationship, while the baby is believed to be theirs, police said.
Governor Doug Ducey said in a tweet that his office is working closely with local authorities and asked for prayers for the wounded officers.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford and David Schwartz; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
