Police: Phoenix SWAT Standoff Reveals Family Murder-Suicide; Two Children Escape
PHOENIX, April 17 (UPI) — Police in Arizona’s capital city are investigating what they believe is a savage quadruple homicide in a neighborhood north of downtown Phoenix, that began Thursday with a phone call and the sound of gunfire — and ended with five people dead, authorities said.
At about 2 p.m. local time Thursday, a police dispatcher received a phone call that reported an unknown problem, investigators said. A few moments later, gunfire was heard in the background and the dispatcher sent units to the scene, theArizona Republic reported.
Upon arrival, police became embroiled in a standoff in the suburban Phoenix neighborhood that lasted for hours. Ultimately, officers discovered the bodies of five adults in the home — three men and two women — and learned that two additional women and two children managed to escape unharmed.
Investigators said the three males were adult brothers, and the women were the men’s 75-year-old mother and one of their wives. The exact circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear, but witnesses reportedly said the family operated a limousine service — and officials say a business dispute may have factored into the shootings.
Apparently, police said, one of the women who escaped the home said the shooting was the result of a dispute that escalated to violence.
At this point, police believe that one of the men — who was found with a self-inflicted wound and a gun near his body — shot and killed his two brothers and the two women before killing himself, the New York Daily News reported. The ages of the victims reportedly range from 28 to 75.
“Initial information indicates they were having a family feud over a family business,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump told the Daily News.
The family, who are natives of Morocco, communicated with police in Arabic during the standoff, Phoenix’s ABC 15 reported.
Investigators are now trying to determine the sequence of events, how many shots were fired, and who was killed first. Witnesses reportedly heard the sounds of muted gunfire in the home about an hour after the standoff started, the ABC 15 report said.
Following the long standoff, officers used robotic equipment, police dogs and a SWAT team to gain entry to the home.
The initial phone call was made to police after one of the victim’s wives escaped out the back of the house, carrying a 3-year-old toddler and an infant.
About an hour into the standoff, another woman ran from the home and told police that she had hid in a bathroom. Neither of the women, nor the children were harmed, police said.
The Republic report cited a neighbor as describing the family as “invisible,” and reported that they had purchased another home in the area to park a fleet of vehicles — as HOA restrictions permitted them to park only two vehicles in their driveway at any given time.
