A tragic turn of events unfolded in Peoria last Thursday evening when police were called to a scene of an attempted kidnapping, and the suspect was fatally shot. Just before 7:00 p.m., the Peoria Police Department received distressing reports of a potential abduction near the intersection of 87th and Pershing avenues, close to Thunderbird Road and Loop 101. As detailed by FOX 10 Phoenix, a woman, in the act of pushing her child in a stroller, was confronted by a man, a stranger to her, who purportedly tried to seize the child.
During the confrontation, reported by ABC15, the woman made an emergency FaceTime call to her husband, who, responding to the call, ran to help his wife. He, along with a neighbor, tailed the stranger, pursuing him into a dead-end where the altercation further escalated. Arriving on the scene, a Peoria police officer became involved in an altercation with the man.
According to a statement given by Peoria Police Sgt. Araceli Montes, during the frenzied tracking of the suspect, the female was pushed into a stroller with a small child, a detail obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix. Sgt. Montes clarified, "Officers contacted the suspect, some sort of altercation took place and an officer-involved shooting occurred." People present at the event suggested that the kidnapper's primary target appeared to be the child in the stroller.
After the incident, the suspect was transported to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The involvement of a firearm and whether the suspect was armed were details that, as of the most recent reports, the Peoria Police have not disclosed. The officer, who discharged his weapon, hitting the suspect, was also taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, but is expected to make a full recovery. "The officer is OK," Sgt. Montes told FOX 10 Phoenix. The identities of those involved have not yet been released.
While the investigation, now led by the Glendale Police Department, continues to develop, the woman and her child walked away physically unharmed, yet surely bearing the psychological scars of this harrowing encounter. More information is expected to be released as it becomes available, with ABC15 committed to updating the story.
