A police officer was fatally shot and another was flown to a hospital after a traffic stop led to a vehicle chase and “gun battle” on the Fort Apache Reservation in japanese Arizona. The suspect was moreover killed, authorities acknowledged.
In a news release, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged the incident began merely after 7 p.m. native time (10 p.m. EST) Thursday when a White Mountain Apache police officer carried out a traffic stop in Whiteriver.
“An altercation occurred between the officer and the person working the automobile,” the sheriff’s office acknowledged. “During the altercation, the officer was fatally shot.”
The suspect then took the officer’s police automobile and fled the scene, with White Mountain Apache cops following in pursuit.
The chase went by the use of “very distant areas” of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, which is home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe, to the Hawley Lake area, the place police acknowledged a “gun battle” between officers and the suspect ensued.
A second officer was wounded in the course of the shootout and the suspect was killed. The officer was flown to a Phoenix-area hospital for treatment.
The names of the officers and the suspect is just not going to be launched until subsequent of kin is notified and authorization from the White Mountain Apache Tribe is obtained, the sheriff’s office acknowledged.
An investigation into the incident could be led by the FBI, it acknowledged.
In a press launch shared by the sheriff’s office, the White Mountain Apache Tribe acknowledged it was “indebted to our Police Department and EMS for his or her rapid and courageous response, and grateful for the assistance rendered by our neighboring jurisdictions.”
“Our prayers, tonight, are with the households of those officers involved, and with all of our first responders,” the tribe acknowledged.
In a separate assertion, Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse acknowledged his office “need to particular our deepest sympathy for the dearth of the White Mountain Apache Police Officer and the Officer that was injured serving their group proper this second.”
Kurt Chirbas contributed.
