A Mesa traffic stop turned deadly early Tuesday when officers chased a fleeing driver on foot and opened fire, killing him near 6th Street and Country Club Drive. Police say a firearm was recovered at the scene, but it remains unclear what prompted the officers to shoot.
Traffic Stop Spirals Into Foot Chase
According to ktar.com, Mesa officers pulled over a vehicle at approximately 1:42 a.m. near Extension Road and University Drive. A separate account from azfamily.com places the stop closer to 1:45 a.m. in the same area, for what officers described as a traffic violation. Either way, the driver did not stick around, speeding off before officers could complete the stop.
Officers tracked the vehicle to 6th Street and Country Club Drive, less than a mile from where the stop began, azfamily.com reports. The driver then abandoned the car and took off on foot, leading officers on a chase just before 2 a.m., according to abc15.com.
Officers Open Fire During Pursuit
The chase ended in gunfire. Per ktar.com, two Mesa officers discharged their weapons at approximately 1:58 a.m., striking the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. A firearm was recovered nearby, though abc15.com notes it remains unclear what led the officers to fire their weapons.
No officers or other community members were injured during the incident, ktar.com reports. Police described the shooting as an isolated incident, telling azfamily.com there is no ongoing threat to the community as a result. FOX 10 Phoenix reported that journalist Danielle Miller covered the latest developments as they unfolded Tuesday morning.
Independent Agency Will Investigate
Gilbert Police will serve as the lead investigating agency through the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team, a standard arrangement used across the region to keep officer-involved shooting investigations independent of the department whose officers were involved. The azfamily.com report counted the shooting as the 40th officer-involved shooting in Maricopa County and the 69th statewide so far in 2026, though that tally has not been independently verified from a primary source.
Mesa has faced scrutiny over its use of force in recent years. A Mesa Police Department review examining 14 officer-involved shootings found that officers used rifles in seven of them, according to a Mesa Police Department report. In a separate case from April, the department released body-camera footage showing Officer Theodore Brennan firing three rounds while backing away after a man named Akbar Aziz approached him quickly and aggressively near Alma School and Main, as reported by fox10phoenix.com. Aziz survived that shooting and was charged with multiple crimes, including aggravated assault on a peace officer.
Tuesday's shooting left several details unresolved. Reports have not identified the man who died or the two officers who fired, and investigators are still determining how many other people were in the vehicle at the time of the initial stop. The findings of the EVCIRT investigation have not yet been released.
