A teen denied entry to a private Halloween party at Versalles Reception Hall in Mesa pulled out a gun and fired at a security guard early Saturday, triggering a burst of return gunfire that left the teen and a man waiting in a nearby car hospitalized. The shooting unfolded around 1 a.m. near Main Street and Stapley Drive, setting off an investigation that now involves two separate police agencies.
According to azfamily.com, the teen tried to get into the private event at the reception hall and was denied entry. He then pointed a gun at the security guard and fired at him, according to the station's report, though the shot missed its target. An off-duty Mesa police officer who was working security for the event, along with the guard, returned fire as the teen bolted toward a waiting vehicle, per the same account.
Chase Ends Across Main Street
The teen kept running, crossing Main Street toward the car, before a separate on-duty Mesa officer intervened and stopped him, the station's report notes. He pulled his gun back out, tossed it to the ground, and was taken into custody at that point, according to 12News.
The teen was shot several times in the exchange and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the outlet reports. A man who was inside the vehicle the teen had been running toward was also struck by gunfire during the incident and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, though his custody status was not immediately clear. The off-duty officer, the security guard and bystanders at the scene were not hurt.
Two Agencies, Two Separate Investigations
Because an off-duty Mesa officer discharged his weapon, Scottsdale police will investigate that shooting through the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team, the report states. Mesa police, meanwhile, will handle the shooting of their own security guard as an aggravated assault case, examining what led up to the teen firing at him in the first place.
The shooting marks the 37th officer-involved shooting recorded in Maricopa County and the 66th statewide so far this year, according to the report. Police activity at the scene also prompted Valley Metro to temporarily suspend A Line service between Stapley/Main Street and Gilbert Road/Main Street stations.
Not the First Shooting at This Venue
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted outside Versalles Reception Hall. In January 2024, a fight broke out between two groups in the parking lot around 1 a.m., and an uninvolved bystander was found shot inside his car and rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, azfamily.com reported at the time. Police believed an altercation between two groups had spilled into the parking lot, and ABC15 reported that multiple suspects remained at large following that earlier shooting.
