A spike in police shootings does not reflect recent crime trends, Pima County supervisor Matt Heinz said in an interview.
This month, the Tucson area saw four shootings by law enforcement officers in the eight days between April 6 and April 13. Two of them were fatal, with victims including a 15-year-old boy. One non-fatal shooting involved federal drug agents. All four shootings took place in the district Heinz represents on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
“This is a bit of an unusual burst of activity, I’ll say, but I think it’s important to keep the context around the situation,” Heinz said.
Homicides and many kinds of violent crime decreased in 2025 in Tucson and Pima County. Heinz said Tucson typically sees eight to ten police shootings a year. According to Tucson Police Department data, the department saw about seven “officer-involved” shootings per year, on average, from 2010 to 2018.
Heinz said the county has increased transparency around police shootings since 2022, when the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team got up and running. Under the team’s model, shootings involving one local department are investigated by a separate, uninvolved department.
“So it’s not TPD investigating TPD, it’s others. That’s incredibly important to help build trust and keep that trust in our law enforcement,” Heinz said.
Heinz, a practicing medical doctor, said he helped treat gunshot victims during his medical residency in Detroit.
“These are people’s family members, these are our neighbors, these are brothers, sisters, children, parents and we always have to keep that in mind,” he said, referring to officers and victims.
Three of the four shootings happened in Tucson’s Ward 5, represented by council member Selina Barajas.
“These recent tragic incidents reinforce the urgent need to invest in youth violence prevention, strengthening partnerships with schools and community organizations, building connections among neighbors and our public safety partners and deepening trust to help break cycles of violence. We must ensure that young people do not have access to firearms and maintain consistent communication with families,” Barajas wrote in a statement to AZPM.
The office of Tucson Chief of Police Monica Prieto did not respond to an interview request.
The four recent police shootings arose from very different situations.
A 15-year-old is killed after allegedly stealing a car and pointing a toy gun at officers##
On the night of April 6, 15-year-old Joannie Jose Armenta was killed by Tucson police officers Joseph Jensen and Daniel Lee.
According to a Pima Regional Critical Incident Team news release, Armenta and 14-year-old Mario Aydin Muruato had stolen a car earlier that evening, which police tracked to a house near West Ajo Way and South 12th Avenue after the homeowner called 911.
While Muruato was quickly arrested, the release said, Armenta threatened several times to shoot officers during an hours-long standoff. Eventually, the teenager came outside and “raised an object at the officers,” prompting them to shoot him. Armenta died of his injuries at a hospital.
The release said the object was later identified as a toy gun wrapped in a cloth.
According to Instagram posts, Armenta was a member of the Reyes Boxing Academy and the Maranatha Ministries church.
Potential false report leads to non-fatal shooting in Summit##
In the early morning of April 10, Pima County sheriff’s deputies shot an unidentified man after receiving reports of a woman shot at East Fenley Drive in Summit.
“Upon entry into the home, deputies encountered a male with a handgun and a deputy-involved shooting occurred. There were two deputies involved in the shooting,” a PRCIT news release said.
According to PRCIT, the man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and detectives are investigating the incident for swatting, or making false reports to law enforcement.
Officers kill man with knife in a residential area##
Later on April 10, Tucson police officers killed an unidentified man who allegedly threatened them with a knife at South Park Avenue and East 36th Street.
Officers had come to the scene after 911 callers reported the man acting “suspicious,” a TPD news release said. After he took out a knife, officers unsuccessfully tried to use pepperballs and tasers to subdue the man before shooting him when he “again produced the knife at the officers,” the news release said.
Few details about fed-involved shooting on south side##
On April 13, Tucson police posted on social media about a shooting involving officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration near South Campbell Avenue and East Irvington Road.
“DEA agents were conducting a narcotics operation in Tucson, near Campbell and Irvington, when shots were fired. Both suspects are in custody. The scene is secure and there is no danger to the public,” a DEA spokesperson wrote to AZPM.
The spokesperson did not answer an AZPM question about whether the officer who fired their weapon was with the DEA. The shooting happened after an officer was assaulted, KOLD News 13 reported.
Also this month, at least one person died at the hands of local police but without the involvement of firearms.
On April 4, Tucson police officers used “less-lethal devices” to subdue an unidentified man at North Fairview Avenue and West Miracle Mile. According to a TPD news release, the man had been throwing rocks at cars and harming himself with a blade. He died that night at a hospital.
