PD: Store owner chases, fires on suspect

TEMPE, AZ - Police are investigating a large crime scene after a Tempe store owner allegedly fired shots while chasing a suspect Saturday. 

Tempe police spokeswoman Molly Enright said the owner of Up in Smoke, located near Mill Avenue and Baseline Road, told police he believed a customer was trying to commit credit card fraud and he pulled out a gun to stop him.

"Shots were fired, multiple shots were fired,” Enright said. “The owner of the shop chased the suspect out of the shop, through the shopping center, which has many vehicles on this busy Saturday afternoon."

The area was busy with hundreds of shoppers and families in every direction.

Running for his life, officers say the suspected scammer led the owner around the strip mall as he dodged bullets from the owner’s gun. Some of those bullets ended up in cars, and even in crowded shops across the street.

The chase took an even more dangerous turn when the pair apparently ran into Kiwanis Park with the store owner continuing to shoot at the suspect while dozens of weekend picnickers and children played.

Enright said officers were able to catch the suspect and took the store owner into custody also.

Uilani Yeepoong was relaxing with her family, friends and two young children when Tempe police got control of the situation. She thinks the store owner was far too extreme with the suspect.

"The person who was doing it should've at least thought, not just for the safety of himself and his store, but for the other kids around him. That's important,” Yeepoong said. “I would've gone raging if something would've happened to my kids."

No one was injured, according to Enright.

The whole area was roped off as a crime scene and witnesses were held for several hours in businesses for police interviews.

Tempe police say both the store owner and the suspect will be charged.

Officers are still trying to figure out if the suspected scammer also had a weapon during the shooting.