Police fatally shoot carjacking suspect at west Phoenix shopping mall
Dec 23, 2019, 11:44 AM | Updated: 1:55 pm
(Facebook Photo/City of Phoenix Police Department)
(Facebook Photo/City of Phoenix Police Department)
PHOENIX – A suspect was fatally shot by Phoenix police Monday morning near Desert Sky Mall after holding a woman at gunpoint in her vehicle, authorities said.
The suspect, an adult male, entered the woman’s vehicle and told her to drive while holding a gun to her head in the parking lot of the mall, which is located at 75th Avenue and Thomas Road, Phoenix Police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune said during a press conference.
The woman escaped the vehicle and started screaming, grabbing the attention of a bystander, a male in his 50s. When the bystander went to help the woman, he was shot by the suspect, Fortune said.
A 56-year-old woman in another vehicle was also struck by a stray bullet. Both victims were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Fortune.
The suspect then tried to leave the scene in the woman’s vehicle and rammed a patrol vehicle. Officers engaged in gunfire with the suspect, who was shot and pronounced dead at the scene, Fortune said.
No officers were injured during the incident and Fortune said the carjacking was a random attack.
“It’s still early on and we’re trying to figure out why the victim even did this today,” Fortune said.
It was the 39th officer-involved shooting of 2019, according to statistics compiled by KTAR News 92.3 FM.
It was the 15th shooting involving Phoenix police, this year, a sharp drop from the department record of 44 in 2018.
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