A man was left with critical injuries late Tuesday night after a shooting at the Paradise Palms apartments in south Phoenix, with officers from the police station next door responding after hearing the gunfire. The shooting happened around 10 p.m. near 7th and Southern avenues, placing it almost literally in the backyard of Phoenix Police's South Mountain Precinct, according to AZFamily.
Officers stationed at that precinct, which sits next to the complex, reportedly heard the gunshots, and arriving officers found the injured man, according to azfamily.com. Investigators say the man had critical injuries but is expected to survive, the outlet reports. Officers were searching for a suspect, and video showed them patrolling the area. Southern Avenue was closed throughout the night and reopened around 3:30 a.m.
Precinct's Proximity Put Officers on Scene Fast
The South Mountain Precinct sits next to the Paradise Palms complex, and officers heard the gunshots. Arriving officers found the injured man.
Beyond confirming the man's critical condition and expected survival, the report does not identify him, nor does it offer a description of a suspect or any indication of an arrest. Arizona's Family journalist Gibby Parra has been following the latest developments in the case, though the central questions of who opened fire and why remain unanswered for now.
Three South Phoenix Shootings This Year
Tuesday's shooting is not an isolated incident for the area's apartment complexes this year. In May, two people were hospitalized after a shooting at a different south Phoenix apartment building, with police saying the suspect and victims had argued before the shooting occurred; that suspect fled before officers arrived and both victims were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, as reported by AZFamily.
In August, another south Phoenix shooting left a man with life-threatening injuries after he was shot once in the torso, as noted by AZFamily. Multiple suspects were detained following a nearby traffic stop in that case, though they were not publicly identified and it remained unclear whether they would face charges. Each of these incidents has unfolded independently, with its own circumstances and outcomes; together, they represent three separate shooting incidents in the area this year.
For now, Tuesday night's shooting remains an open investigation. Southern Avenue reopened around 3:30 a.m. after being closed throughout the night.
