PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – A man is dead, a woman was shot to death, and nine police officers are recovering after an early morning “ambush” turned into a standoff which ended with a shooting at a south Phoenix home Friday.
How it started
It happened in the area of 54th Avenue between Lower Buckeye and Broadway roads shortly after 2 a.m. Sgt. Andy Williams said it started with a 911 call about a woman who had been shot. A single officer was the first to arrive and was met by a man, who was later identified as 36-year-old Morris Jones III. “He was actually invited by the suspect,” Williams said. “As he approached the doorway, the suspect ambushed him with a gun and shot him several times.” That wounded officer then got to safety and backup shortly after.
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Man and woman dead, 9 officers hurt after ambush, shootout
Officers help a wounded colleague to safety.
He then walked backwards, hands still up, to waiting officers. The baby was not hurt. It’s not clear how the man is connected to the incident but he is not believed to be a suspect.
Officers scattered as shots were fired.
Five officers were wounded; they are expected to recover. The woman they were trying to help is in critical condition.
Officers help a wounded colleague to safety.
Officers help a wounded colleague to safety.
Officers help a wounded colleague to safety.
Officers help a wounded colleague to safety.
“If I seem upset, it’s because I am,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said.
Those officers surrounded the house and started yelling to the people inside to come out. Then a family member with a baby in his arms came out of the house. He put the baby in a carrier on the ground and then put his hands up. Officers ordered him to walk backward to them with his hands up, which he did. That’s when Jones opened fire again, Williams said. The baby was not hurt, but four more officers were shot. Another four were injured by shrapnel. Williams said two officers returned fire. A videographer who was there recorded everything.
Standoff
Jones then went inside the house and wouldn’t come out. SWAT officers tried to negotiate with him. When they eventually went inside, they found Jones dead. They also found the woman, who was taken to the hospital where she later died. She has not been identified.
Officers were at the hospital all day Friday to show support for the nine officers who were hurt in an ambush and shootout at a Phoenix home.
At this point, it’s not clear what led to the initial shooting. Investigators believe Jones and woman had been a couple and the baby is theirs. The child is now in custody of the Department of Child Safety.
Police chief: “This is senseless.”
“If I seem upset, it’s because I am,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said in the morning, emphasizing the struggles and safety concerns law enforcement officials face every single day. “This is senseless, doesn’t need to happen and [it] continues to happen over and over again.” The shooting comes two months after a fellow officer, Tyler Moldovan, was shot eight times, including once to the head.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams vocalized her support for the nine officers who were hurt in two shootings at a Phoenix house overnight and calls on the violence in the community to end.
“It’s terrifying”
“This is the first time anything extreme like this has happened here,” Classie Taylor, who lives down the street from the shooting scene, told Arizona’s Family. “It’s terrifying to know something like this could be happening outside your own home.”
“This is a little rattling for me,” neighbor Kameron Jackson agreed. “My house is like 50 yards away.”
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams and Mayor Kate Gallego spoke about the nine officers hurt in the ambush and shooting Friday morning.
“I hope they’re going to be OK,” Kim Martin said of the injured officers. “They put their life on the line all the time for the neighborhoods and to see that happen is sad because they, too, have families.”
Please continue to pray for the five @PhoenixPolice officers injured this morning. Our men and women in blue work day and night—no matter the circumstances—to protect our state from danger. Their unwavering courage & sacrifice helps to keep us safe. Arizona is deeply grateful. 1/
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 11, 2022
14th officer-involved shooting
According to data kept by Arizona’s Family, there are been 14 shootings involving law enforcement in Arizona this year. Nine of those happened in Maricopa County.
Editor’s Note: Police initially reported five officers were involved in a critical incident. The count later increased to eight officers wounded in the standoff before the latest update gave a final tally of nine officers involved.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism