Off-duty police officer working security at Scottsdale Fashion Square fatally shoots man
Scottsdale AZ Feb 20 2018Â An off-duty police officer working mall security was placed on administrative leave Sunday after fatally shooting a man at Scottsdale Fashion Square, police said.
The unidentified officer responded to a call about a “subject acting erratically” and suspiciously in a Fashion Square store just before 5 p.m., according to Officer Kevin Watts, a Scottsdale police spokesman.
The officer encountered the man on the third level of the mall’s parking garage, near Scottsdale and Camelback roads, Watts said.
“It was during that initial contact that the shooting occurred,” he said.
Watts said police recovered a weapon at the site, but he declined to share further details about how the shooting unfolded. He said police were still “in the early stages of the investigation.”
Police said no one else was hurt, and they did not believe anyone else was a threat to the area. Watts said Fashion Square has a “sophisticated camera system” and police would be reviewing all materials available to them.
The officer was not wearing a camera, Watts said.
As of 7:30 p.m., the movie theater at the mall was open and police were escorting people parked in the affected area of the garage out to the street.
The officer will remain on administrative leave while the shooting is under investigation, police said.
“Obviously, it’s a tragic event,” Watts said. “No officer wants to be faced with this.”
AZCentral
