Deadly shooting involving police in west Phoenix is under investigation

PHOENIX – A deadly shooting involving police at a west Phoenix home on Monday is under investigation, authorities said.

According to multiple media reports, witnesses are alleging that police shot the wrong man after responding to a shooting call.

The Phoenix Police Department put out a media advisory saying two men were shot, one of whom died, and another was detained and hospitalized with injuries unrelated to gunfire. The deceased man was later identified as 36-year-old Christian Diaz Rendon.

Officers responded to a shooting call at the house near 73rd Drive and Lower Buckeye Road around 6:20 p.m.

Police said that when the first responding officer arrived people were yelling that someone had been shot. The officer approached the house and fired a round from his duty rifle through the open door after reportedly seeing a struggle.

“Officers entered the house and found two men with gunshot wounds. One man was taken to the hospital with … non-life-threatening injuries, while the other was pronounced deceased at the scene. A third man was detained and transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, unrelated to gunfire,” Sgt. Jen Zak said in the media advisory.

The police account didn’t say who fired the shots that struck the two men. KTAR News 92.3 FM has reached out for clarification.

“Preliminary information suggests that an adult man drove to the home and began shooting at it. The man went to the backyard and was able to enter the home when an additional altercation occurred. During that struggle, the officer-involved shooting took place,” Zak said.

What witnesses said about deadly shooting involving police in Phoenix

Multiple local media outlets, including ABC15, interviewed family members at the scene who said police fatally shot the person who called them — not the man who was shooting inside the house.

“They shot the wrong guy,” Jarvis Gonzalez, who lives in the home, told 12News. “They shot my stepdad in the face.”

The media reports also said the person injured by gunfire was shot in the leg before police arrived.

The Major Incident Division of the Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the police shooting.

This is an updated version of a story originally published Jan. 26, 2026.

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