PHOENIX — Police have identified the man shot and killed Monday outside of Desert Sky Mall after the suspect shot two victims during an attempted carjacking, Phoenix PD said.
The deceased suspect is 38-year-old Richard L. Ruiz.
Phoenix Fire transported a 53-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man with gunshot wounds to local hospitals. The woman has non-life threatening injuries, the man's condition is unknown at this time.
The officers involved are two men, one with 17 years of law enforcement experience and the other has been in law enforcement for three years, according to statement from police.
No officers were injured.
Police said officers responded at 11 a.m. to shots fired reports. Police say the suspect tried to steal a car from a 53-year-old woman sitting in the parking lot outside the Burlington store. That woman tried to drive away, and the suspect shot her.
The suspect then moved on to another truck, with another woman inside, according to police. They tell us that woman, 44, had been held at gunpoint by the suspect, who told her to drive him somewhere.
That woman was able to get out of her car and scream. Police say a 56-year-old man who heard her scream went to help and the suspect shot the man. The shots sent shoppers into a frenzy.
"It’s a terrifying feeling," tells a woman named Maria, who ran into a store for shelter with her baby. "Nobody wants to go through this."
Then police say the suspect took the truck from the second carjacking victim. Witnesses say he was swerving around the parking lot as police tried to get him to stop.
"The way he was holding the gun he didn’t look like he’d really care what happened," says Jeffrey Larsen, who caught some of the incident on his smartphone. "He was holding it in the air, letting everybody know he was armed."
The suspect eventually rammed a patrol vehicle and police fired at the suspect and killed him.
Police say the suspect didn't know either of his carjacking victims. They're still working to piece together why this all unfolded.