PHOENIX — Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.
A man who killed his ex-girlfriend and shot five Phoenix officers two weeks ago told his sister in phone call during a standoff with police that he wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life in prison, authorities said in police reports recently released.
Morris Jones’ sister told investigators that she heard gunfire during the call that she believed was the self-inflicted gunshot wound that killed her brother on Feb. 11 at his ex-girlfriend’s home in southwest Phoenix. Morris also had called his mother to say goodbye, police reports released late last week said.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office had previously concluded that Jones’ death was a suicide.
Authorities say Jones killed 29-year-old Shatifah Lobley and wounded five officers, including one officer who was ambushed by Jones when responding to a call of a shooting at the home.
Lobley’s brother, who lived with his sister, stepped out of the home at some point during the encounter, put down Jones and Lobley’s 1-month-old daughter and surrendered to police. Police say Jones later shot four officers who were trying to bring the baby to safety. The infant was unharmed.
Lobley’s sister told police that Shatifah had told her the night before that Jones had hit her while she was holding their infant. And Lobley’s brother said he heard Jones and his sister argue shortly before the shooting but didn’t know what the dispute was about. He later heard gunshots.
Four additional officers were injured by shrapnel or ricocheting bullets. All officers have been released from the hospital.
Jones had previously served time in prison on convictions for firearms possession and transporting immigrants who were in the United States illegally.
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