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Public memorial service for deputy marshal killed in Tucson

Posted at 11:38 AM, Dec 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-05 06:41:24-05

A man arrested in last week's killing of a deputy U.S. marshal in Tucson has been ordered held without bond, authorities said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona said a federal magistrate ordered Ryan Phillip Schlesinger to remain behind bars pending a grand jury hearing.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Chase White was shot Thursday night while serving a fugitive arrest warrant. White, 41, died later at a hospital.

A public memorial service has been organized for the deputy U.S. marshal who was slain last week serving a fugitive arrest warrant.

The U.S. Marshals Service said the gathering to remember White will be Friday at the Tucson Convention Center. White was shot when he and other members of the Marshals Service were outside a home in northern Tucson to deliver a warrant to Ryan Phillip Schlesinger for stalking a female police sergeant.

After an hourlong standoff, Schlesinger emerged wearing body armor and was arrested on a warrant accusing him of first-degree murder of a federal officer. He could face the death penalty or life in prison. A public defender did not return an email seeking comment.

The initial warrant against Schlesinger, 26, sought his arrest for stalking a female police sergeant after she seized a handgun and ammunition from him last year.

The suspect had recently visited the Tucson Police Department, where he confronted the sergeant, then filed an online complaint about last year's seizure of his weapon, demanding that she and other officers be "arrested" and warning against the possibility of a "shootout at the OK Corral," authorities said in a complaint.

Raised in central Illinois, White had been with the U.S. Marshals Service since 2015. He was on active duty in the Air Force from 2000 to 2007 and was currently a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve, serving with the 926th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He was set to leave for a deployment this week.

The Marshals Service said the deputy U.S. marshal was the first killed in the line of duty in Tucson in 66 years.

White, 41, is survived by a wife and four children.