PHOENIX — Police shot and hit a man with a police vehicle following a domestic violence call on Friday night. The man who was shot and hit by the patrol vehicle was not the subject of the domestic violence call, police later found. But, they said, he had pointed what looked like a gun at officers pursuing him.
Phoenix police officers responded to a domestic violence call at an apartment near 16th Street and McDowell Road. The caller told police that her cousin's boyfriend was attempting to enter the apartment by kicking in the front door while holding a knife. Before officers got to the scene, the subject took off, walking into the alley, police said.
Officers began driving into the area and saw a man they thought was the subject. Officers began giving the man commands, but the man did not follow the orders and began to run away. The man was later identified as 38-year-old David Epaloose. Officers ran after Epaloose and used "less lethal tools" to try to stop him.
Epaloose then allegedly pointed a handgun at officers, police said. Less lethal tools were used by officers at first before one officer fired his shotgun at Epaloose. Then, two officers drove a marked patrol Tahoe at Epaloose, hitting him, police said.
He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The handgun Epaloose used was later determined to be a pellet gun made to look like a "semi-automatic handgun," police said.
The officer who drove the patrol vehicle into Epaloose was also taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Police said the investigation revealed that the man who was initially trying to force entry into the apartment was not Epaloose, the man who was shot and hit by a police vehicle.
The suspect from the initial call remains outstanding, police said.
Epaloose was processed into Maricopa County Jail and could face several charges including aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
Police initially did not release any further details regarding what led up to the incident or the condition or identity of the man who was shot. Police also did not release the identities of the officers involved in the shooting.
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