Off-duty border agent dies after armed stand-off with police

 

By R. Mason Callejas

 

A Maricopa man was found dead in his home after a shootout with police on Monday.

 

At around 8:45 p.m. Maricopa Police Officers responded to a domestic violence call in the Lakes at Rancho El Dorado subdivision.  MPD spokesman Ricardo Alvarado stated that after entering the home officers were fired upon by the suspect. The officers returned fire and quickly exited the home unharmed.

 

The male suspect identified as 40-year-old Border Patrol agent Jeremy Russo then barricaded himself in the home.

 

Officers immediately set up a perimeter and called on the Department of Public Safety SWAT to assist. DPS used an armored vehicle to assist in extracting one of the officers pinned down by the suspect’s gun fire. After several hours of unsuccessful attempts to establish communications, police used an explosive charge to gain entry into the front door.

 

“Using their [DPS] robot they were able to send it in first to look around,” Alvarado said. “We then discovered the individual who had fired on officers was deceased in a closet.”

 

The suspect was dead from an apparent gunshot wound. However, it is unclear if the wound was self-inflicted or from the initial exchange of gunfire with police.

 

There have been no other reported injuries or deaths associated with the incident.