Wine, painkillers help save Phoenix hostages

PHOENIX - A Phoenix man and his girlfriend used wine and painkillers to help them escape a hostage situation Tuesday.

The shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home near 35th Avenue and Thunderbird Road.

Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson told ABC15 it all started around 1:30 p.m. when a 47-year-old woman was in her bedroom watching a movie with her boyfriend, who she used to be married to.

""[He] came up to my face and said, 'I have two bullets for you in the head, I've got two bullets for her in the chest, and one bullet for myself and I'll take my time on that one," said Bruce Humbertson, the woman's boyfriend.

Police said the 54-year-old male suspect, who lives out of state, then showed up at their bedroom door "out of nowhere". The suspect is the other, estranged husband of the woman who lives at the residence.

"He had the gun, showed the gun, and said he was going to kill them," Thompson said.

The suspect kept the pair in the bedroom throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening.

"Every minute that dragged by seemed like it was an hour," Humbertson said.

Thompson said the suspect and the woman have been separated for more than a year.

The boyfriend's 81-year-old mother was also living in the home. The three victims had just moved in a few weeks ago, Thompson said.

He said the suspect then complained about back pain, so the estranged wife offered him some medication and wine, hoping the combination would make him drowsy.

"All-in-all he took about six Percocets, four Morphine tablets, probably four or five glasses of wine and two beers," Humbertson said.

When the suspect nodded off, the male victim escaped the home and called for help, Thompson said.

The suspect then awoke and found the male victim gone, so he went outside to look for him, Thompson said.

The wife locked the front door behind him, and then two officers arrived on scene.

Thompson said the male victim pointed the suspect out to the officers. The suspect was standing on a street corner several houses away.

The suspect then ran back toward the home as officers gave the suspect commands to drop his weapon, Thompson said.

The suspect then realized the door was locked and turned around to point his gun at the officers, Thompson said.

He said the officer standing closest to the suspect fired his weapon, striking him several times.

The suspect was taken to the hospital where he died Wednesday morning.

No other injuries were reported in this incident.

The 35-year-old officer who fired his weapon is a 12-year veteran with the Phoenix Police Department.

For Humbertson, the shooting culminated one of the scariest days of his life.

"I'm just thankful that the girlfriend is so smart and couragious...I firmly believe she saved us," he said.