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3 officers wounded in Sky Harbor shootout

The Arizona Republic Jul. 8, 2005 01:50 AM

Three Phoenix police officers were wounded during an exchange of gunfire with a suspect outside a terminal at Sky Harbor International Airport late Thursday, a police spokesman said.

Details about the officers' injuries were not available but they were expected to survive, said Sgt. Randy Force, a Phoenix police spokesman. The suspect died at the scene, though it wasn't immediately clear whether he was shot by police or if his wound was self inflicted, Force said.

Force gave the following account:

The incident began about 11:40 p.m. when police attempted to stop a vehicle with a stolen license plate. The driver exited Interstate 10 at Buckeye Road near the airport where police attempted to spike his tires. He backed into a patrol car, then took off onto airport grounds. He dropped off a female passenger then stopped east of Terminal 4 where the shootings occurred shortly before midnight.

Police have the woman in custody.

Thursday's shooting comes one week after another driver plowed through an airport fence and onto a taxiway before crashing through a second airport fence west of Terminal 2 where police took him into custody.

A special security task force was formed after that incident and is conducting a comprehensive review of the perimeter at the airport.