UPDATED AT 2:50 p.m., Monday, Aug. 29
A man who exchanged gunfire with Maricopa Police officers Monday morning from inside a home in The Villages at Rancho El Dorado was found dead in his backyard by Pinal County Regional SWAT Team officers after a 2-hour standoff.
The man has yet to be identified pending notification of next of kin, according to Maricopa Police Sgt. Hal Koozer.
Officers were called to a noise complaint at the home, in the 43900 block of West McCord Drive, just a block from Butterfield Elementary School, and upon arrival found a man in the garage.
“He retreated from the garage into the house, and gunshots were exchanged after he started firing at officers,” Koozer said. “He barricaded himself in the house.”
Maricopa Police requested assistance from the county SWAT team, which dispatched two BearCat SWAT vehicles along with several SWAT officers. A communications vehicle, used in an attempt to make contact with the man, also was dispatched.
Maricopa officers deployed a drone to assist them during the standoff.
Casa Grande Police and Maricopa Fire/Medical also responded.
At 1:16 p.m. a loud boom could be heard in the area.
“They did a great job,” Koozer said of the SWAT team. “They got into the house and found the subject deceased in the backyard.”
Koozer said officers believe cause of death was a gunshot, but they do not yet know if it was officer-inflicted or self-inflicted.
No officers were injured, according to Koozer.
Maricopa Police closed the surrounding area to traffic and encouraged residents in the area to stay in their homes.
There was no immediate threat to the school, which was locked down as a precaution.
Neighbors who asked not to be identified said the man had a history of walking up and down the street throwing his clothes and yelling obscenities.
View an image gallery of the operation below:
Check back for more updates as they become available.
