One of the girls was in her late teens and the other was 6 years old. A girl was also hospitalized in critical condition. The scene in this quiet Phoenix neighborhood sounds like something out of a movie. AZ Central reports that there was another exchange of fire between Buckner and cops. “Vic and his wife loved their children more than anything”.
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They all lived in the home on Sunnyside Ave.
The blaze needed to be put out a second time after it flared up with several firefighters standing on the roof as flames and smoke gushed out. At an upstairs window, some of the were hollering for help. “I’ve never seen an active shooter inside a home while the house is on fire, shooting at officers that are trying to help victims who are on the line with us”, Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump told news media at the scene.
When fire fighters and police from Glendale and Phoenix arrived on scene and tried to get into the home to help victims, the man with the gun, Buckner, apparently began firing at them. When the scene was finally safe, a tactical team rushed in and searched the home. That’s when he was shot and killed. Then suddenly, the fire reignited in the ceiling and police had to escape with Alex’s body.
Police say those killed Tuesday morning were all related.
The family’s dog, named Bob, was rescued from the home by a law enforcement official who gave him to a relative of the Buckners.
Owasso records show police arrested Alex Buckner twice in 2012 before he moved to Arizona with his family.
The investigation into a possible motive is just getting underway.
“They willingly risked their lives to save members of that family”, Stanton said.
The Phoenix Police Department tells Fox 10 that the shooting happened near 51st Avenue and Cactus and at some point, the home was set on fire. The suspect is among the dead, a spokesman said. “There had been some indications of drug use that they had moved out of state”.
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“When they went in, they were confronted by the armed suspect”.
