Officer killed in ambush
First on Phoenix force to die in 8
years, 4th cop shot in 7 days
By Richard Ruelas and Christina Leonard
The Arizona Republic
March 27, 1999
A 27-year-old police officer pursuing drug suspects in
west Phoenix was shot to death Friday evening in what
authorities are calling an ambush.
He was the first Phoenix police officer to die of gunshots
in eight years. It's the fourth time in seven days a Valley
police officer has been shot.
"It's like it's open season on officers right now," said
Officer Troy Bartlett, a 10-year veteran, pulling his
motorcycle up to the shooting scene.
Police did not release the name of the five-year veteran
of the police force Friday night because his extended
family had not been told of the shooting.
The last Phoenix officer to die of a gunshot in the line of
duty was Leonard Kolodziej, 43, killed by a sniper's bullet
in September 1991.
A passer-by who saw the shooting near 31st Avenue and
Thomas Road took out his own firearm and fired at the
fleeing men, shooting one in the back. Other officers,
part of dozens who converged on the industrial park,
found two other men hiding in nearby businesses.
The officer was shot twice in the head, police said. He
died at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, leaving
behind a wife and 6-month-old child, police said.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt returned twice to the hospital
late Friday, visibly upset. But he declined comment.
Police did not release the name of the suspects.
The one who was shot in the back by the passer-by was
in Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, but police
would not release his condition.
The officer's last call started at 35th Avenue and Thomas
Road, said Sgt. Mike Torres, a department spokesman.
The officer, in his marked patrol car, tailed a white
Lincoln Continental from a business known for narcotics
activity, Torres said. He would not identify the business.
The corner is home to a few bars, liquor stores, gas
stations and convenience stores.
The officer radioed that he was tailing a possible stolen
car.
He followed it east on West Thomas Road, followed it
when it turned left on 31st Avenue, then again when it
turned right on Catalina Drive, police said. The officer
kept radioing his location to dispatchers.
The car turned left again on 30th Avenue, but the three
men inside got out and waited just north of the
intersection, police said.
When the officer made the last turn, he saw the men
come out of the car and said, "Bail out." That was at 5:32
p.m., police said.
Initial investigation indicates the officer tried speeding
through the ambush of bullets fired by two of the men,
police said. Witnesses said they heard more than a dozen
shots before the officer careened onto the sidewalk and
into a light pole.
A man in a dark-green sedan saw the officer needed help
and started firing his own gun at the suspects, police
said. He struck one in the back, leaving him on the
ground while the other two suspects fled.
Police would not identify the gun-toting citizen but said
he was not injured in the battle.
The shooting happened in a busy industrial area, and
several witnesses heard or saw some part of the
gunfight.
The suspects tried to hide in businesses in the industrial
park, but witnesses pointed officers to them, police said.
One of the men wandered into Bristow Optical, on the
northwest corner of the intersection.
Ducking under a desk, Bridgette Farmer, 33, of Phoenix,
was on the phone to 911. The operator told her to stay
inside the building.
Farmer stood up, still on the phone, and noticed she was
alone in the office.
"I looked around and everybody's gone."
She dropped the phone and went to the front door,
where officers waved her outside.
Police found the suspect in one of the office restrooms.
The three suspects were going to be questioned by police
before they were booked into Madison Street Jail.
The fallen officer was rushed to St. Joseph's. He never
regained consciousness.
Officers streamed into the hospital late Friday, leaving
with sagging shoulders and bowed heads. Many stood
outside, consoling one another and chatting among
themselves.
Meanwhile, officers kept working Friday night, dealing
with traffic leaving the Phoenix Suns game, an armed
robbery along Central Avenue, kids knocking on doors
and running in north Phoenix and other routine calls.
"I hate to say it, but it's part of the job," said Officer
Scott Brown, guarding the east perimeter of the shooting
scene on Friday.
A Tempe police sergeant is still in the hospital following a
spate of shootings in recent days.
Phoenix Officer Lyn Butcher, 28, was released from the
hospital Wednesday. She was shot in the arm during a
traffic stop Monday.
Tempe police Sgt. John Schaper remained in fair
condition Friday at Maricopa Medical Center. He was shot
March 19 while arresting a trespasser on Mill Avenue.
Another officer, Charles Bridges, was also hit but saved
by his body armor.
"This heightens your awareness," said Brown, a
seven-year veteran. "Even on a routine traffic stop, this
can happen any time."
"This makes me appreciate my kids when I get home,"
said Officer Mike Orloski, an eight-year veteran guarding
the scene.
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
