Girl, 12, shot as police confront alleged intruder

Gunfire in an officer-involved shooting in north Phoenix Tuesday wounded a 12-year-old girl and left the shooter in serious condition, police said.

At about 4 p.m. police responded to a call from a 14-year-old girl who said there was an unwanted man in her home near 44th Street and Trailblazer Drive, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman. The girl told police that the 18-year-old man had left gifts on her doorstep and had been sending her texts.

While officers were interviewing the girl, police received roughly four calls from other residents in the area saying a man was walking through the neighborhood with a handgun, Crump said. The description callers provided matched the description of the 18-year-old man who had left the gifts, he said.

Officers found the man in a nearby wash where he put the gun to his head, Crump said.

The man refused the officers' commands and began to walk back through the neighborhood, he said, ultimately returning to the home where police originally responded.

As police continued to negotiate with the man in the front yard, a car pulled up containing a woman and small children, Crump said. The occupants exited the vehicle when they saw the suspect holding a gun and safely walked away from the area.

The gunman then made a move toward the house, and an officer with the tactical unit who was ordered to prevent the suspect from entering the home fired a single shot from a rifle, Crump said.

The gunman appeared to have simultaneously fired at least one shot that went through the front door of the home where a 12-year-old girl, the sister of the original caller, was standing.

The 12-year-old girl and the 18-year-old gunman, whose names were not released, were both transported to the hospital, Crump said. The girl was in stable condition, and the shooter's condition was serious.

Crump said there were allegations of past "inappropriate sexual contact" between the gunman and the 14-year-old girl.

There were no reports that any officers were injured in the incident.