Phoenix police shoot armed man outside convenience store

PHOENIX – Police in Phoenix said they shot an armed man during a confrontation outside a convenience store near the state Capitol late Thursday.

The unidentified suspect, who is expected to survive, had been seen with a handgun at 17th Avenue and Van Buren Street near a Circle K around 11:30 p.m., Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Philip Krynsky said at a press conference early Friday.

Calls to police reported the man was threatening to rob the store, he said.

Officers arrived to find the man standing outside the store. When he pulled out a gun, they told him to drop the weapon but he began pointing it in different directions. An officer fired, hitting the man.

“Multiple officers gave commands to the subject to put the handgun down and he refused,” Krynsky said.

The unnamed officer who discharged his duty weapon has three years of service.

An investigation is ongoing.

It was the fourth shooting of the year by law enforcement in metro Phoenix and first by Phoenix police.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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