Tucson officer remains in critical condition after gunfight; suspect killed

TUCSON — A Tucson police officer remained in critical condition after he and his partner were shot Thursday morning as they tried to serve an arrest warrant at an apartment complex on the city's south side.

The gunman, identified as Jose Noe Barron Gomez, 27, was killed in a confrontation with the officers.

Officer Jorge Tequida remained hospitalized in an intensive-care unit; police say a bullet entered his shoulder and continued into his chest, requiring immediate surgery. Officer Doug Wilfert, shot in the leg, was treated and released from the hospital, according to Tucson police.

Tequida has been with the Tucson Police Department nearly four years, and Wilfert seven.

Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus spoke at a news conference before the second officer's release about the fatal confrontation and the dangers police officers face.

“I think this highlights, certainly, the fact that we’re dealing with some very dangerous individuals who are willing to use firearms on police officers they encounter. I think we have officers that demonstrated a great deal of skill, bravery and courage under very difficult circumstances," he said.

About Tequida and Wilfert, he said: "I’m very impressed with both of them, but I am, of course, concerned about them as well because they’re at the hospital.”

The officers went to an apartment complex about 7 a.m. to look for Gomez, who had an active felony arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, Tucson police spokesman.

When they were attempting to arrest Gomez, gunfire was exchanged between, Dugan said.

Arriving officers gave medical attention to all three men. The injured officers were rushed to Banner University Medical Center. Police said Gomez was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was unclear whether the officers were wearing body cameras.

Tequida and Wilfert were part of a special unit that executed felony arrest warrants, Dugan said, but he believed both officers were dressed in Tucson police uniforms.

"It is a high-risk unit that they're in," Dugan said. "But then again, we have officers that do that as well every day."

Fallen Arizona police officers and firefighters

'It's just not fair at all ...'

Crystal Burks, 42, said she has lived at the Campbell Terrace apartments, in the 4700 block of Campbell Avenue, for the past two years, along with her husband and seven children. She said she heard an officer yelling to "get on the ground" followed by a popping sound of gunshots Thursday morning as she went to smoke on her balcony. She said she had no idea where the voices were coming from.

She said this is the first time anything like this has happened and it surprised her, because she described the neighborhood as being quiet.

"This is just so surreal to see this happening here because everyone keeps to themselves," Burks said. "I wasn't trying to see anything, hear anything."

"I've heard people say, 'On the south side, this happens all of the time.' No, it doesn't. Not over here it doesn't. It's not that bad. This is an unexpected out-of-the-blue occurrence."

She expressed concern about the wounded officers.

"Hopefully they survived," she said.

"If police officers are coming in here to protect us, they shouldn't be gunned down because of your mistake or whoever's mistake that was doing criminal activity," she said. "It's just not fair at all because they have families."

'We’re very, very fortunate'

Magnus said investigators still were looking into the gunman's background, but Tequida and Wilfert were familiar with the charge on which Gomez was wanted.

The chief also recalled an Oct. 24 shooting in which Tucson Officer Robert Miranda was shot at by a suspect during a foot pursuit after a traffic violation.

The bullet grazed the side of Miranda's head and the suspect, identified as Marcus De La Torre, 33, was shot multiple times by another officer. De La Torre was booked into the Pima County Jail four days later on charges that included attempted first-degree murder.

“It’s very scary…We’re very, very fortunate but we’re also mindful of the fact this is an extremely dangerous job and there are some individuals willing to shoot police even over arrest warrants. Very discouraging,” Magnus said.

Gunman's criminal history

Documents at Pima County Superior Court show Gomez was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by Judge Jane Eikleberry on Nov. 23 after he failed to attend a case-management conference in his aggravated-assault case.

Gomez was arrested by Tucson police in late September on suspicion that he whacked a man across the back with a baseball bat on Aug. 23, court records state. An interim complaint states Gomez became upset while visiting the home of his recently separated longtime girlfriend when he saw the other man holding his daughter.

When the man left the apartment, Gomez confronted him and struck him in the back with the bat, resulting in a minor injury. The man reportedly fended Gomez off by displaying a gun.

Gomez was arrested the following month and was released to pretrial services with conditions that included he not possess any weapons.

He has a federal court record as well.

Gomez was arrested in May 2011 after a Border Patrol agent south of Tucson stopped the SUV that Barron-Gomez was driving and discovered eight bundles of marijuana inside, according to federal court records. He was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison with credit for time served.

Gomez was placed on supervised release for four years and was discharged from supervision in December 2015. When petitioning for his dismissal, Gomez’s probation officer said he had “complied with the rules and regulations of supervised release and is no longer in need of supervision.”

Includes information from Republic reporter Megan Cassidy.