Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crash kills 2 while responding to shootout

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crashed in an accident that killed the pilot and a trooper on board, after they responded to a gunbattle between police and a suspect who fired on officers from multiple rooftops over almost two hours, authorities said Thursday.

The confrontation began when law enforcement officers responded to a domestic violence call around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly said during a news conference. As the officers spoke with the victim in the front yard, the suspect opened fire on them from the back of the house with a semiautomatic long rifle.

An almost two-hour shootout ensued, with the unidentified suspect “hopping from roof to roof” in the residential neighborhood while shooting at officers, Connolly said.

The man was brought into custody at about 10:20 p.m., around the time the helicopter accident occurred. He did not provide information on how the helicopter crashed but said it had been providing officers on the ground with an aerial view of what was happening.

The suspect suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds and was being treated at Flagstaff Medical Center, officials said.

No one else was injured. The names of the pilot and trooper, who was also a paramedic, were not released.

“Our city and our state have experienced a significant loss. We are part of this community,” Connolly said. He referred to the suspect as a career criminal but gave no further details.

The trooper killed had joined the Department of Public Safety in 2022, according to a Fraternal Order of Police organization in Arizona. The helicopter pilot had been hired in May 2021 and previously served 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, the organization said.

Michael Hunt, president of Arizona Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 32, called the deaths a “devastating moment” for Arizona’s law enforcement community.

“Both the paramedic, and the pilot, a military veteran, made the ultimate sacrifice while supporting the mission," Hunt said in a statement.

A ‘giant boom’

Amanda Brewer of Flagstaff said she heard close to 100 gunshots fired in her neighborhood beginning at around 8:40 p.m. As bursts of fire continued, she said her husband grabbed their guns and they closed their blinds, keeping watch over what was happening outside via cameras at the front and back of their house.

The couple heard police on a loudspeaker tell the suspect to put his weapon down and end the situation peacefully shortly before the helicopter arrived. Brewer heard three rounds of shots soon after the helicopter arrived, including shots as the aircraft was over her house.

Then she could no longer hear the helicopter, there was a “giant boom”, and their house shook. “It was so powerful and so loud,” she said.

The Bell 407 helicopter crashed on Flagstaff's west side, a few miles from Route 66 in a less densely populated area to the north of Brewer's neighborhood. There was a fire afterward, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Earlier in the night, an emergency alert went out to mobile phones warning of an active shooter and urging people to stay clear of the area. People gathered outside of a gas station watching as dozens of police vehicles lined the streets.

Jasmin Parra, 32, was at home nearby with her family when police told them to stay inside, lock their doors and windows and not answer if anybody knocked, she said.

As the family kept low inside the house, the sound of gunfire got closer and they could hear police trying to talk the gunman down from a rooftop, Parra said.

There were several gunshots just before the house shook with what she thought was the helicopter crash, Parra said.

“Just all these emotions just flooded us because we didn’t know” what was happening, she said.

Trained for high-risk

The helicopter crashed about 50 feet (15 meters) from a BNSF Railway line and spread debris across the tracks, according to the railway. Train traffic was halted overnight at the request of police and resumed Thursday morning, the railway said.

Registration records show the helicopter was built in 2004. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating. Four investigators were headed to the scene Thursday, the NTSB said.

The state Department of Public Safety's Air Rescue Unit is trained for various high-risk situations, including mountain and water rescues.