FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A man was shot and killed by police during a domestic dispute in Flagstaff involving a father and son.
Flagstaff police responded to a call of a domestic dispute in progress on Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m. While en route, officers were notified that at least one person in the residence had a firearm.
Officers knocked on the front door of the apartment and reportedly announced their presence but no one came to the door.
One of the police officers, identified as Officer Roy Taylor, tried to make contact with the people inside through an exterior window.
A news release from Flagstaff police indicates evidence at the scene confirmed numerous firearms were present inside the residence and Officer Taylor fired his weapon, striking one of the men inside.
That person, identified as Kenneth Mitchell, 78, was pronounced dead at the Flagstaff Medical Center as a result of the shooting.
Mitchell was not a Flagstaff residence. His home address is listed in Gilbert, South Carolina.
Police say his son, Kenneth "Christopher" Mitchell, 33, is the renter of the apartment where the domestic dispute took place.
Witnesses tell police the father and son got into an argument and threats involving a shotgun were made, causing Christopher’s mom and Kenneth’s wife to flee the apartment.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Northern Arizona University Police and the Department of Public Safety Crime Lab are assisting the Flagstaff Police Department with this case.
Officer Taylor is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.
Kenneth “Christopher” Mitchell was arrested and faces two counts of aggravated assault, one count of threatening and intimidating and one count of disorderly conduct.
