PHOENIX — Authorities have arrested two men suspected of being the masked individuals involved in a shooting of a police officer in Laveen on Tuesday, the Phoenix Police Department said.
The men, identified as 22-year-old Ahmani Gordon and 22-year-old Aaron Ware, have been booked on charges of attempted first-degree murder.
No other details on what connects the men to the incident or the motive behind the shooting were shared by police.
The injured police officer is in the hospital and considered stable.
The Phoenix Police Department said the incident started around noon. Court documents show officers were following up on a criminal gun investigation near 40th Avenue and Pollack Street
In court documents, police said a detective was inside an unmarked car near a home the suspects are known to frequent. That's when the suspect's vehicle arrived in the area and slowed down next to her, and then continued down the road westbound.
A short time later, the same vehicle returned to the area and drove eastbound on the road and past the detective’s car. The suspect's vehicle stopped a short distance behind the detective’s car and two men exited the vehicle, police said.
The two men got out of the car with handguns drawn and pulled masks over their faces, police said. Through the rearview mirror, the detective was able to see the men, put on her police ballistic vest and draw her handgun.
Police said one of the men stood in front of the detective’s car and the other one stood outside the detective’s passenger side door. Both men began firing into the detective’s car and struck her multiple times as she got out of her vehicle. Due to her injuries, and her handgun being damaged, police said the detective was unable to fire back.
Court records show up to 19 shots were fired during the incident.
"This was a coordinated effort by Mr. Gordon and Mr. Ware to kill a Phoenix police officer," Josh Maxwell, a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said during court proceedings Wednesday.
Police said the two men ran back to their vehicle. The detective was able to call for help over the radio to other police units in the area. With the assistance of the air unit, patrol units and the tactical support unit, the suspect's vehicle was located at a home near 33rd Avenue and Baseline Road where the two men were taken into custody.
Ware denied knowing the person he shot at was a police officer, court records show.
Police said there were no other injuries to officers or members of the community. The two men will be booked on multiple felonies, officials said.
Phoenix police said they will not be identifying the detective because she works undercover. Police have said she is a 19-year veteran of the department.
Police said the officer's vest saved her life.
In court on Wednesday, a judge imposed a $2 million bond on both Ware and Gordon.
"The nature of the allegations do indicate a deliberate and coordinated attempt to gun down a person who was wearing a police vest. And that when people are accused of offenses like that, it tends to indicate that there is very little that they will not do," the judge said.
While the suspects remain in jail, the Phoenix police department is declining to answer 12 News' questions about the officer's condition, only that she is expected to survive.
Police have also not answered why she was alone and what the previous alleged gun crime was about. But say an update will be provided within two weeks.
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