A man suspected in an armed robbery was shot to death by a Tucson police officer on the city’s east side earlier this month.
On April 3 just after 11 a.m., Tucson Police received a 911 call about an armed robbery at a Best Buy, 6025 E. Broadway. A Best Buy store security reported that as they attempted to stop Joshua King, 32, from shoplifting, he allegedly removed a handgun from his waistband and held it against his side as he left the store with stolen items, a news release from the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team revealed Tuesday.
Store security provided police with a detailed description of King and his direction of travel. Officers then began to search for King and provided his description to surrounding agencies and SunTran, to alert them, the news release said.
At 11:45 a.m., a SunTran driver observed a man matching King’s description near Kolb Road and Broadway and alerted officers. Officers later found King walking near Broadway and Prudence Road, pointing a handgun indiscriminately, the news release said.
An officer gave commands to King to drop the gun, but he did not, the news release said. The officer then fired at King, as additional officers and a sergeant arrived in the area.
The arriving sergeant also shot at King, the news release said.
King ran between two businesses before returning and shooting at the officer and sergeant. King then ran behind a business and fired at a bystander in the process, the news release said.
King was confronted by a third officer, and both exchanged gunfire, during which King was struck, the news release said.
Officers rendered aid to King, and he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, the news release said. No other individuals were injured in the incident.
The officers involved in the shooting have been identified as Sergeant Armando Olivas, a 19-year veteran of TPD; Officer Richard Valentine, a one-year veteran of TPD; and Officer Antonio Apodaca, an eight-year veteran of TPD.
The incident was captured by the officers’ body-worn camera as well as surveillance and witness videos, though none of that footage was released Tuesday. Members of the public with information and/or video of the incident are asked to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
The sheriff’s department has been assigned primary responsibility for the criminal investigation. The Tucson Police Department Office of Professional Standards will conduct a separate, but parallel, administrative investigation to examine the actions of TPD personnel.
