Suspect Hospitalized After Getting Shot By Police In North Phoenix

PHOENIX, AZ —The Phoenix Police Department said one of its officers shot a suspect Monday whom the department said was acting erratically and attempting to enter a North Phoenix restaurant with a rock.

The suspect was taken into custody and treated at the scene, police said. The PPD's last update was that the suspect was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

An investigation into the shooting remains active, the PPD said.

ABC 15 asked PPD spokesperson Philip Krynsky if the officer felt threatened by the suspect with the rock.

"Again, as our officers are going through it, the investigators go through those details, we are hoping to have some answer to find out what led up to it," Krynsky told the station.

Police said the incident began at approximately 4:45 p.m. when officers responded to a criminal damage call at an apartment complex near 7th Street and Bell Road.

While officers were investigating the criminal damage, a second call came in about a man breaking the windows of a commercial business and throwing bottles at cars, police said.

At the second location —a parking lot near the northwest corner of 7th Street and Bell Road —officers said they encountered the suspect, and that he had a river rock in his hand and was acting erratically.

According to police, officers ordered the suspect to drop the rock and get on the ground. However, the suspect ignored the commands and ran away.

One of the officers then followed the suspect on foot into a strip mall parking lot on the other side of Bell Road, police said.

The suspect then made his way to the outdoor patio of a restaurant, which ABC 15 reported was a Chili's. Again, the officer gave the suspect the command to drop the rock, police said.

The suspect refused once again and walked toward an entrance to the restaurant. That's when the shooting occurred, according to the PPD.

The department said officers provided medical aid to the suspect at the scene, which included the application of a tourniquet. The suspect was then transported to a local hospital.

The PPD said no officers or members of the community, other than the suspect, were injured in the incident.