Phoenix police ID dead gunman who shot parents, 2 sisters

A shooting in a Phoenix neighborhood quickly escalated Tuesday morning as the incident turned into an active shooter and working house fire. He identified them as 50-year-old Vic Buckner, 49-year-old Kimberly Buckner, 18-year-old Kaitlin Buckner and 6-year-old Emma Buckner.

Police said the gun Buckner used to kill his family belonged to his father and had been at the home and is believed to be the only gun in the home.

PHOENIX (AP) – Phoenix police and firefighters braved bullets and flames as they responded to a shooting and house fire that left five family members dead Tuesday, including the gunman, authorities said.

Three police officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, said Crump.

Alex Buckner was shot and killed after he raised a weapon at a special assignment unit officer in the split-level home, said Sergeant Trent Crump, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, in the U.S., said the gunman was the brother or son of the victims.

Phoenix police said they received a 911 call at approximately 5 a.m. from a woman claiming she had been shot during a domestic dispute, and the shooter was still shooting other residents at the home near 47th Avenue and Cactus Road.

The shooter had set the house ablaze, fire Capt. Reda Riddle-Bigler said.

Mayor Stanton had nothing but praise for the actions of the fearless Phoenix and Glendale firefighters and police officer who attempted to reach the family and save as many victims as possible while bullets were being aimed at them from inside the home. James Graham says he wasn’t close to his neighbors but they chatted occasionally and never mentioned any issues.

“We have witnesses or neighbors that have told us that probably a half-hour before our response out here they heard an argument come from that house”, Crump said. Police shot him when he pointed a gun at officers.

Soon after, the house caught fire.

Firefighters were forced to battle the growing blaze from both the ground and eventually from on top of the roof of the home.

“You have a caller on the line who is indicating they need help and they can see people in the upper windows that are trying to get them to help them”, Crump said. He told the media at the scene of the murder suicide that, “These are what heroes look like”.

An attorney for a French woman who sued the University of Oklahoma over a painting that the Nazis stole from her family says a settlement has been reached and that the university will return the painting to her.

Details are sketchy about what happened at the home, including how the fire started.

Four gunshot victims were found at the scene.