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U-Haul truck pursuit ends after Phoenix police shoot suspect

Posted at 4:56 PM, Dec 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-31 00:21:16-05

An armed robbery suspect who led police on a pursuit through multiple Valley cities in a U-Haul truck was shot by Phoenix police officers Thursday afternoon. 

According to the Peoria Police Department, its officers responded to an armed robbery report at an AM/PM convenience store near 75th and Peoria avenues just after 4 p.m. 

Officers were told the suspect, a 29-year-old male, possibly had a gun. Authorities did not immediately know if he stole anything from the store.

Police tried to stop the U-Haul near 67th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, when the suspect took off and the pursuit started.  

The vehicle headed onto Interstate 10 and continued traveling. The suspect traveled through Phoenix and made his way through Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. 

Shortly before 6 p.m., the U-Haul truck came to a stop near Lincoln Drive and Tatum Boulevard where the man got out of the truck and brandished a weapon at a woman who was in a white SUV.

Several plainclothes Phoenix officers, who had been following the suspect throughout the Valley, got out of their vehicles and approached the suspect.

One officer saw the suspect threaten the woman with a gun, causing the officer to shoot and injure the suspect, according to Sgt. Vince Lewis. Officials said a Taser was also fired at the suspect, but later clarified a Taser was never used on the man, only a gun was fired. 

The suspect fell to the ground and was quickly surrounded by Phoenix police officers at the intersection of Tatum Boulevard and Mockingbird Lane.

The suspect, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, according to the Phoenix Fire Department.

No officers were injured in the shooting, Sgt. Lewis said. Police said there was a child also in the SUV with the woman at the time the suspect approached the white SUV. 

ABC15 spoke with the carjacking victim's husband who said his wife was at a light with their one and a half-year-old child inside the car at the time. 

"I was literally watching on the news, I was thinking people are crazy these days," he said not realizing that the suspect had pulled up right next to his own wife's car. "She did say she hit the lock button, and that it was between her taking a chance and pulling into oncoming traffic and her getting hit or getting out, he would have taken our child and that wasn't going to happen." 

SWAT team members slowly began to approach the man giving him commands, and once it was deemed safe a sergeant fired multiple shots and brought the suspect down. 

Sgt. Lewis said the officer who fired at the suspect is a 20 year veteran on the police force.

The suspect was transported to the hospital and is listed in stable condition. 

Police say they found a black realistic replica pellet handgun at the scene of the arrest.

ABC15 has learned the man was involved in an armed robbery on Wednesday that occurred in Phoenix, according to police. Police say the man robbed a Studio 6 Hotel near 27th Avenue and Union Hills Drive. 

 Stay with ABC15 for updates.