The two men in custody for the shooting of a Phoenix Police officer and a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Posse member have been identified as Roger Allen Sharp, 26, and David Lee Murray Jr., 36, who were involved in a robbery before the shooting.
Police said that Sharp was booked on suspicion of two counts each of attempt to commit murder, armed robbery, burglary and prohibited possessor, and one count each of unlawful flight and resisting arrest. Murray was arrested on two counts of suspicion of armed robbery.
The Arizona Republic reports that a robbery suspect grabbed the police officer’s gun during a confrontation and shot them in a busy east Phoenix intersection on Tuesday afternoon. The shooting occurred in the intersection of 56th Street and Thomas Road, at the Phoenix-Scottsdale border, after the car of one of the suspects collided with a pickup truck as a police officer gave chase, authorities said.
Police believe that the seven year veteran of the police force struggled with the suspect, who wrestled the officer’s gun away.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio described the Posse member as a Viet Nam veteran of the 82nd Airborne and a “tough guy” who came to the aid of the Phoenix officer after his truck was struck by the fleeing robber’s car.