Police said the man was wanted in a child sex-crime case and died after officers stopped his SUV.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Phoenix police fatally shot a wanted man Thursday evening near 23rd Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road after a tactical unit stopped his SUV during an operation in north Phoenix, officials said.
The man, described as being in his 50s, was wanted in a sex-crime case involving a child, Phoenix Police Sgt. Vince Lewis said. His name had not been released Friday morning. No officers were injured, and investigators had not said whether the man was armed.
Lewis said officers with the department’s tactical unit tracked the man while he was driving west on Pinnacle Peak Road. As the SUV passed 23rd Avenue, a K-9 handler used a Grappler device from a truck to stop it. “He was joined by another detective, and that’s when the officer-involved shooting took place,” Lewis said.
The man was inside the SUV when officers fired, police said. After the scene was secured, he was removed from the vehicle. Firefighters checked him and pronounced him dead at the scene. Police said no one else was inside the vehicle. Officials have not released a full account of what officers saw before shots were fired.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the shooting. Phoenix police are also conducting an internal review to determine whether department policies were followed. Lewis said investigators would speak with the officers involved to get their accounts of what happened before the shooting.
Pinnacle Peak Road was closed overnight between 23rd Avenue and Interstate 17 while investigators worked at the scene. The road reopened around 5:45 a.m. Friday. Arizona’s Family records show the shooting was the 21st officer-involved shooting in the Valley and the 43rd in Arizona this year.
Authorities had not announced when the man’s identity or more details about the shooting would be released. The investigation remained active Friday.
Author note: Last updated June 12, 2026.