May 22, 2021- 11:00 p.m.
PHOENIX, AZ – Police identified a woman they say shot at officers as they were cleaning up her yard as 51-year-old Larisa Boulais. Boulais was arrested after hours of negotiations and has been booked on suspicion of aggravated assault on an officer, aggravated assault, misconduct involving weapons, and endangerment, Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Ann Justus said.
The incident started when 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 a 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 Boulais, who police said lives in the home, was aware.
While officers spoke outside with the man who owns the home, Boulais walked out of the home armed with a gun, fired a gun at officers, yelled at them and went back inside. Police removed the homeowner, city representative and volunteers from the scene.
No one was injured, Justus said. Boulais came out a second time and pointed a gun at an officer who then shot at her but she was not hit, and she retreated into a fenced yard, Justus said. Police said Boulais went back inside and refused to exit while officers negotiated with her for several hours.
Officers eventually entered the home and at some point shot less-lethal munitions and gas before arresting her, Justus said. “It does not appear that she was struck by the gunfire from the officers. She was struck with less-lethal rounds during the negotiations,” Justus said on Monday.
Boulais was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening. The officer who shot at Boulais is a 35-year-old man with six years of service.
