Husband, wife arrested in Glendale mall shooting

PHOENIX — Glendale police have arrested a husband and wife in Friday’s shooting at Arrowhead Towne Center.

According to police, 35-year-old Michael Hough and 33-year-old Shaashana Hough were in the process of stealing a drill at Sears in the mall when an unarmed security officer approached them. As the couple exited the store, the officer tried to detain them, and investigators said the woman then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the officer.

At the same time, police said a 61-year-old Glendale man who was sitting in his car saw his wife leaving the store in the same area as the officer. Based on the preliminary information, police said he feared for the safety of his wife and the security officer and fired his gun several times toward the armed suspect. Both suspects jumped on a motorcycle and took off. No shoppers or employees were hurt.

“Obviously, we don’t encourage people to discharge firearms, especially in a crowded place such as the mall,” said Sgt. Jay O’Neill. “That was a decision that he made based upon those circumstances and we’re going to review that to make sure that there wasn’t any criminal intent or negligence involved.”

Glendale officers searched an apartment complex and found the motorcycle, which was not registered to either suspect. Using surveillance video and investigative leads, they identified the suspects and arrested them Saturday night near 26th Avenue and Deer Valley Road in Phoenix.

Shaashana Hough is facing aggravated assault and armed robbery charges, while Michael is facing an armed robbery charge.

“The best thing somebody can do if they see an incident like this occurring is to get as much information as they can, as much detail as they can and call 911 to provide the information to law enforcement to follow up on,” said O’Neill.