Glendale police officer fatally shoots man carrying metal bar

PHOENIX – A Glendale police officer fatally shot a man wielding a metal bar early Tuesday, authorities said.

The officer was responding to a burglary alarm that went off at a home near 59th Avenue between Northern and Glendale avenues around 4:30 a.m., the Glendale Police Department said.

The officer found a man, who was later identified as 45-year-old Christopher Cuevas, in the backyard of the home attempting to break in, according to police.

Cuevas tried to run away, but the officer confronted him in the street, police said.

Cuevas was carrying a solid metal bar about 2-3 feet long. The officer fired at the man when the man moved toward him, police said.

Glendale Fire Department responders pronounced Cuevas dead at the scene.

The officer was placed on administrative leave, which police said is standard practice. He has been with the department for more than two years.

Police said no one was home at the time of the incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

It was the second shooting of the year involving a member of the Glendale Police Department, according to tracking by KTAR News 92.3 FM, and the 24th involving law enforcement in metro Phoenix.

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