Two Arizona state police ambushed by teenager with 'assault rifle'

Two Arizona state troopers were ambushed by a teenager armed with a rifle in Phoenix, AZ. The assailants reportedly pulled up in front of them and honked right before a teenager exited the vehicle and shot at them.

The two officers were mercifully unharmed and able to take cover and return fire. The shooting comes days after two Los Angeles Sheriffs Department deputies were ambushed in Compton by an armed assailant who shot them both as they sat in their cruiser.

According to KTAR, authorities issued a Blue Alert on Thursday after the shooting occurred in the residential Phoenix area of 37^thAvenue and Portland Street. The Dept. of Public Safety Capt. Jesse Galvez told KTAR News that a teenage male got out of his car and fired multiple shots with an “assault rifle” at DPS detectives.

Galvez told the news that the uniformed troopers were sitting in their parked vehicle in support of a nearby operation when a silver Infiniti pulled directly in front of them and honked.

“At that point the passenger in the Infiniti exited the vehicle and raised an assault rifle and began firing at our two detectives,” Galvez said.

The two troopers fired back, but were able to take the shooter into custody before the Infiniti drove off, leaving him behind.

“The driver of the Infiniti then took off, leaving the shooter behind, and our detectives at that point were able to take that shooter into custody,” he said.

The shooting suspect, who is 17, was taken into custody and the weapon was confiscated. A search for the driver, believed to be a Hispanic male in his late teens, is ongoing. No injuries were reported.

The Blue Alert was activated around noon, prompting cellphones to trigger across the Valley. The Blue Alert is a rarely used system that the DPS uses when a suspect is wanted in the event that a police officer is attacked.

TPUSA president Charlie Kirk tweeted that the shooting is part of the ongoing “all-out war on cops in America spurred by Democrats’ refusal to stand with law enforcement.”