Arizona Police Officer Shootout - A 24-year-old police officer from Arizona, as well as a suspect, were both killed after a shootout that occurred Saturday afternoon, according to police.
The rookie who died from the Arizona police officer shootout is police officer Tyler Stewart.
Stewart has only been working for at the Flagstaff Police Department for less than a year, when he died at Flagstaff Medical Center shortly after being shot by a suspect in the domestic-violence case he responded to Saturday.
The Flagstaff Police Department confirmed late Saturday in a statement that the Arizona police officer shootout occurred after Stewart responded to a domestic-violence call about 1:30 p.m. in the 800 block of West Clay Avenue, according to the Washington Post.
Stewart encountered the Arizona police officer shootout suspect, later identified as 28-year-old Robert W. Smith of Prescott. The suspect fired several shots at Stewart before committing suicide by shooting himself.
Prescott was pronounced dead at the scene of the Arizona police officer shootout, according to police Sgt. Margaret Bentzen. She added that the suspect fired several shots at Stewart while the officer was standing outside his patrol car.
Meanwhile, according to investigators, they do not believe Stewart fired any shots. However, they investigate into the Arizona police officer shootout is still underway, Bentzen said.
Stewart remained in critical condition at the Flagstaff Medical Center before he died, police said.
Police have said earlier that they were still looking for another person involved in the domestic violence case.
"This is an enormous tragedy for our department and the family of our Officer. We are a very close knit organization, and know that all members of the Flagstaff Police Department are grieving at this time," said Chief Kevin Treadway in a statement addressing the Arizona police officer shootout.
"With that being said, all of the men and women of the Flagstaff Police Department extend our prayers and condolences to the family of our Officer Tyler Stewart," he added.
Stewart graduated from Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Arizona, and Concordia College in California, according to Fox News.
"It is heartbreaking to lose one of our officers," Mayor Jerry Nabours said about the loss of an oficer from the Arizona police officer shootout. "We collectively mourn for his family and the entire department."
Sunday evening, hundreds gathered at a candlelight vigil at the Officer Down Memorial Statue at the front of the Flagstaff Police Department at 911 E. Sawmill, KPHO television reported.
The Arizona police officer shootout was reportedly the second police officer in northern Arizona who got shot in the past three months. In October, a tribal police officer of the Navajo Nation was shot in the face and survived. The Arizona police officer shootout is also the second case of a Flagstaff police officer to have been killed in the line of duty, reports the Associated Press. On June 21, 2000, 30-year-old officer, Jeff Moritz, was killed after pulling over a teenager who drove around his neighborhood in a truck while playing loud rap music.
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