DPS says traffic stop suspect shot at troopers near I-17 in Phoenix

PHOENIX – Arizona highway troopers exchanged gunfire in Phoenix with a suspect who initially refused to yield to a traffic stop, then took off on foot Wednesday night.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Thursday the suspect shot at three troopers and was captured several blocks away from the initial encounter near Interstate 17 and Grant Street.

DPS said the suspect shot at troopers between the traffic stop site and his arrest at a shed behind a home near 22nd Avenue and Hadley Street.

The suspect suffered a minor gunshot wound, DPS said.

The chase began around 7:40 p.m., when a trooper tried to pull over the suspect, whose name and gender have not been released, on southbound I-17. DPS said the vehicle was slow to yield and sideswiped another vehicle before crashing.

The driver got out of the vehicle and ran along Grant Street. A trooper followed in a patrol unit and tried to stop the suspect with a stun gun. The suspect turned and fired at the trooper, who then used a service weapon to return fire.

The suspect kept running, reaching 22nd Avenue, where another trooper in a vehicle was waiting. The suspect fired at the second trooper and shortly thereafter shot at a third trooper.

The suspect was taken to a hospital; a trooper was treated for minor abrasions.

It was the first shooting involving DPS and 37th for law enforcement in the Valley in 2022, according to KTAR News research.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Kate Ourada contributed to this report.

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