One Navajo Nation police officer is dead and another wounded after a shootout in Arizona, a spokesman for the tribe said late Thursday.
Police initially responded to reports that a man with an AR-15 rifle was holding his family hostage in Little Water, New Mexico, according to Navajo Nation tribe spokesman Rick Abasta. The suspect — identified by NBC affiliate KOB as 24-year-old Justin Fowler — fired on an officer and fled the scene. That officer was not injured, according to KOB, and cops from other forces joined in the pursuit.
Abasta said that Fowler was found about 40 miles away from his home, in Red Valley, Arizona — just west of the New Mexico border. Two officers engaged in a shootout with Fowler; one died at the scene and the other has been hospitalized, according to Abasta. Fowler was also shot and killed however it is unclear if it was by police or if the wound was self-inflicted, NBC affiliate KOB reported. He has been identified as Justin Fowler, 24, police told the station.