Tucson police release video of fatal shooting of teen wanted on robbery, burglary charges

A 17-year-old shot and killed by Tucson police last week has been identified as Simon Pancho, who police said was wanted for several violent crimes, including a robbery where he fired a shot into the floor near a store clerk.

On Wednesday, the Tucson Police Department released body and surveillance camera footage that showed an armed robbery, a burglary and the fatal confrontation with officers from the police special response unit.

The face of the teenager is blurred out in the videos, which was done because Pancho was a juvenile, Tucson police said.

One surveillance video shows a July 31 armed robbery at a Tucson Quik Mart in which a robber identified as Pancho threatens a clerk with a gun and fires off a round into the floor while the clerk is handing over money from the register.

Another store surveillance video, taken 10 days later, shows the suspect stealing liquor from a Circle K store by smashing the glass liquor case with the butt of a handgun.

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Because Pancho was wanted in gun-related incidents, he was considered armed and dangerous, and Tucson police assigned a special response unit to find and arrest him, department spokesman Sgt. Pete Dugan said on the video.

After locating Pancho in the 1200 block of West Calle Rancho Rio, near West Ajo Way and Interstate 19, police decided to send in a plainclothes officer to buy drugs from the teenager while other officers waited nearby to make the arrest, Dugan said.

But as officers moved in, Pancho ran and then pulled a gun out of his waistband with his left hand, transferred it to his right hand and had his finger on the trigger when police used lethal force, Dugan said. Pancho was shot two times by an officer, police said. Officers and medical personnel performed first aid on Pancho, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officers who moved in were in plainclothes wearing badges and vests with the word “Police” on both sides, Dugan said.

The shooting remains under investigation by detectives and by TPD internal affairs, he said. Dugan said TPD is “not releasing the names of the officers involved while we continue to investigate online threats made against them.”