Phoenix police ID victims in shooting, fire that left 5 dead

“The leadership in fire and in the police department are talking together to ensure that everybody is safe and yet effective when we respond to situations like we had [Tuesday]”, Shelly Jamison, deputy chief with the Phoenix Fire Department, said. The shooting victims are parents Vic, 50, and Kimberly, 49, and sister Kaitlin, 18, who were all pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Crump, family members say Alex Buckner was treated for drug abuse in the past, but the shooting was out of character.

Police believe Alex used a gun belonging to his father, who ran a vehicle lubrication business out of their home.

“Officers were getting shot at from the second floor of the home while they were trying to extinguish the fire and extract people from the house”, Crump said. He said police shot the gunman.

The four dead adults include the shooter, who was the brother or son of the victims and who apparently committed suicide after the murders, police reported.

One of those injured called 911 shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday to report that a family member was firing at family members, Crump said.

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

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said the incident involved “unspeakable violence”, but that the first responders’ heroism gave residents reasons to take heart.

She got a glimpse of the back of the home engulfed in flames.

Police say at least 2 people were shot, and that an active remained inside.

Officers searched for the rest of the victims, but they had to leave because the fire reignited in the attic, sending flames through a ceiling.

Yolanda Strayhand, who lives behind the burned home, said her elderly mother woke her up after hearing gunfire. “They weren’t there to put out fires, they were there to [extricate] victims”.

Details are sketchy, but it appears that a family of four lives in the home. He said he chatted with them occasionally but they never mentioned any problems. At this point, police said they did not know if Alex Buckner was alive, had succumbed to smoke inhalation or shot himself. Graham says he saw a boy in his late teens or early 20s from time to time. Police officers were shot at as they went into the house, some donning breathing apparatus to enter the burning home.

When officers arrived on scene, they heard gunshots from inside the home, which was also on fire.