UPDATE: Officers Shoot Bicyclist After He Fires Gun At Them

UPDATE: On Thurs., Jan. 16, Phoenix police released the names of the two male officers involved in the incident: Ryan Shell, 32, 4 years with Phoenix police, and Angel Alanis, 27, 3.5 years with the Phoenix Police Department.

PHOENIX, AZ — A bicyclist resisted arrest Monday night in Phoenix, resulting in a physical fight with police, a struggle to gain control of a gun and a deadly officer-involved shooting.

Just before 9 p.m. Monday, two Phoenix PD officers ages 27 and 32 were near 10 E. Buckeye Road when they saw a man breaking several traffic laws as he rode a bicycle. The police attempted to stop the bicyclist at 900 S. 1st Ave., but Xavier Jaime Rovie, 28, speedily pedaled away. Rovie continued riding his bicycle with police in pursuit, stopping when he reached the railroad tracks near 200 S. 1st Ave.

The passenger officer got out of the patrol vehicle and chased Rovie, catching him on the railroad track’s north side. The passenger officer then attempted to arrest Rovie, but Rovie pulled away. Next was a physical fight between Rovie and the passenger officer, during which struggle the passenger officer saw that Rovie had a handgun. The passenger officer commanded Rovie to drop the gun, but the suspect refused and the two engaged in a struggle to gain control of the gun.

The driver officer then came on scene and saw the two fighting for possession of the gun. The driver officer hit Rovie a few times in the now-three-person struggle, but the suspect fired his gun and a bullet hit the portable radio the driver officer was wearing on his outer vest’s front.

Both officers then shot the suspect, and provided medical aid to him until Phoenix Fire came to the scene. Phoenix Fire took Rovie to a hospital, where he died.

The driver officer, who sustained minor injuries, was taken to the hospital and released later. The passenger officer was unharmed in the incident.

Police recovered the suspect’s gun at the tracks.