Phoenix police arrest person suspected of opening fire on patrol car, injuring 2 officers

Phoenix police arrested a man suspected of randomly opening fire on a Phoenix police vehicle, shooting one officer and hurting another officer with flying glass early Sunday.

The shooting took place near 27th and Maryland avenues.

Police did not name the suspect Sunday night but said he was being booked into jail on charges of attempted homicide.

"The officer who was struck today is going to recover," Chief Jeri Williams said during an early morning news conference. "He's in great spirits. He has his wife and his child with him, so we're very blessed that that has happened."

Man standing on side of road opened fire on patrol vehicle

The incident began about 1 a.m. when the two officers riding together tried to stop a car for traffic violations. The vehicle took off and officers lost sight of it.

The officers spotted the same car again a short time later and got behind the vehicle to try to stop it.

When the officers were driving along Maryland Avenue near 27th Avenue, someone standing on the side of the road opened fire on the officers, according to Phoenix police.

Phoenix police said a barrage of bullets struck the police vehicle.

The officer in the passenger seat suffered a gunshot wound to the wrist and the officer who was driving was injured from flying glass. The officer who was shot in the wrist was still in the hospital as of Sunday night, police said. The injury is not considered life threatening.

"This is still very preliminary but it appears our officers were shot by someone hiding in the darkness, literally trying to pick our officers off," Williams said.

Suspect at large: Phoenix police officer injured in shooting

The driver whom the officers were initially attempting to stop ended up bailing out of his car and took off on foot. Additional officers responded to the area and took him into custody. He is facing a charge of flight from law enforcement, which is a lower-level felony.

The second man, who is suspected of shooting at officers, initially fled but was detained Sunday night, police announced just before 10 p.m.

Multiple officers injured in separate incidents over the weekend

This is the seventh Phoenix officer shot and 12th injured in the past three months, Williams said.

This was the second shooting involving Phoenix police this weekend. On Saturday morning, a Phoenix police officer fatally shot a man after trying to stop him from taking a patrol car near 75th Avenue and Buckeye Road, according to officials.

It also was the second shooting of law-enforcement officers in Arizona this weekend. A person is dead and a deputy is seriously injured after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department was involved in a shooting on Saturday.

Additionally, someone shot at but did not hit a Tempe officer on Friday afternoon. Police took the shooter into custody.

Reach breaking news reporter Haleigh Kochanski at hkochanski@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @HaleighKochans.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 2 Phoenix officers hurt after person on street shoots at police car