Officers shoot man who allegedly fired gun while talking with police in East Mesa

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — Mesa police say officers shot a man who allegedly fired a gun while he was talking with police on Friday night.

Authorities say it happened in the area of 81st Street and University Drive around 9:30 p.m. Officers in the area working on a project to tackle violent crime when they tried to pull a man over for a traffic stop. In a news release, police said the suspect, identified as a 54-year-old man, was “being somewhat evasive” and didn’t want to pull over. While speaking with the suspect, police say the man fired his gun and that’s when officers fired back.

Police say additional officers were called and paramedics immediately treated the suspect at the scene before taking him to the hospital. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Investigators say they found a gun next to the suspect on the ground. It’s not yet clear what prompted officers to initiate the traffic stop.

This is the 30th officer-involved shooting in the Phoenix area and the 48th overall in the state in 2022.

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