March 23, 2021- 7:50 p.m
Phoenix police say a woman shot at officers as they were cleaning up her yard on Monday evening. An officer shot back at the woman but she was not shot, according to a statement from Phoenix police. She was arrested after hours of negotiations and was injured with less-lethal rounds.
It started when “community action” officers were at a home near 47th Avenue and Greenway Road with a representative from the city’s Neighborhood Services Department and at least four volunteers to clean up the yard due to bushes and trees being overgrown, police said.
The homeowner was aware the group was coming but it is not clear yet if the woman, who lives in the home, was aware, Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Ann Justus said in a news conference Monday night.
While officers spoke with the male homeowner outside, the woman walked out of the home while armed with a gun shortly after 2 p.m.
The 51-year-old woman fired the gun at officers, yelled at them and went back into the home. Police removed the male homeowner, representative and volunteers from the scene. No one was injured, Justus said. The woman came out a second time and pointed a gun at officers, Justus said.
One officer shot at her but she was not hit, and she retreated into a fenced yard. The woman went back inside and refused to exit while the police negotiated with her for several hours. Police eventually entered the home and at some point shot less-lethal munitions before arresting the woman, Justus said. The woman was treated for minor injuries.
