PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Police say a five people, including a shooting suspect and small child, have died in a family shooting in Phoenix on Tuesday morning.
The Phoenix Police Department tells Fox 10 that the shooting happened near 51st Avenue and Cactus and at some point, the home was set on fire before officers arrived.
Police have confirmed that the suspect and four others, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed in the shooting. The girl, who was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries after the shooting, died shortly after.
Sgt. Trent Crump said that dispatchers received calls from the victims inside. When they arrived they found the home on fire and heard shots being fired inside. Officers entered the home to save victims and were met with gunfire from the shooter. They used equipment from the fire department and were able to extinguish some of the fire to rescue the victims.
"You had police officers who went into an active fire to pull out people to try and save their lives... folks this is what heroes look like," said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
Crump said that officers called for a tactical team who later cleared the home and found the other victims and the shooter. He said that the shooter was armed when confronted by police and they opened fire killing him.
Firefighters have contained the fire inside the home. Police say they will be investigating at the home for at least the next 12-24 hours.
Sgt. Crump identified the victims as 50-year-old Vic Buckner, 49-year-old Kimberly Buckner, 18-year-old Kaitlin Buckner, and 6-year-old Emma Buckner. The shooter was identified as 26-year-old Alex Arthur Buckner.
Detectives believe the weapon used belonged to the father, Vic Buckner. They are investigating claims by surviving family that Alex Buckner had problems with drug use, the family said this was unexpected and completely out of character.
Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton released a statement on the shooting on his Facebook page:
This morning our city witnessed an unspeakable domestic-violence tragedy in Northwest Phoenix, one marked by incredible...