Security Guard, Off-Duty Officer Return Fire After Armed Teen Opens Fire Outside Arizona Halloween Party
Fox 10 Phoenix
MESA, ARIZONA — A security guard and an off-duty Mesa police officer opened fire on an armed teenager outside a private Halloween party early Saturday morning after the teen allegedly shot at the guard when he was denied entry to the event, according to authorities.
The shooting occurred around 1:05 a.m. Oct. 10 outside Versalles Reception Hall, near Main Street and Stapley Drive in Mesa.
According to the Mesa Police Department, the confrontation began when a juvenile male attempted to enter the private event but was turned away by security personnel.
Police said the teenager then produced a handgun, pointed it at the security guard and fired before fleeing toward a nearby vehicle.
An off-duty Mesa police officer who was working at the event responded to the gunfire. Both the officer and the security guard discharged their weapons at the suspect, according to investigators.
The teenager continued running south across Main Street, where he encountered a separate on-duty Mesa police officer. Authorities said the teenager removed a handgun and threw it to the ground before being taken into custody without further incident.
The suspect suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
An adult man inside a vehicle associated with the teenager was also struck by gunfire and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Neither the security guard nor the off-duty officer was injured. Police also reported no injuries among other people attending the event.
The shooting prompted separate investigations by two police departments.
The Scottsdale Police Department is leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting through the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team, a multiagency unit responsible for investigating critical incidents involving law enforcement officers.
The Mesa Police Department is separately investigating the teenager's alleged shooting at the security guard as an aggravated assault.
Authorities had not publicly identified the teenager or the injured man in the initial reports. Additional details about the circumstances of the shooting, including the sequence of shots fired and potential criminal charges, remain under investigation.