2 die in Arizona police helicopter crash responding to shootout

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A pilot and an Arizona state trooper died when their police helicopter crashed while responding to a police-involved shooting in Flagstaff.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety did not identify the deceased but said they died when the Bell 407 Ranger helicopter in which they were flying crashed in a location north of Route 66 and between Thompson Street and Mark Lane in Flagstaff.

The Arizona DPS did not say what caused the crash while the pair was responding to a call for help from Flagstaff police and other law enforcement involved in an active-shooter incident.

Local resident Amanda Brewer was among those who called 911 at 8:40 p.m. MST to report what she said were five gunshots, AZ Family reported.

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She said officers arrived soon after, and she heard between 15 and 20 more gunshots.

At about 10 p.m., the DPS helicopter was flying over Brewer's house, and then she heard several more gunshots.

"You could hear the blades going," she told media. "Then there was a very large crash. It shook the house."

Brewer called the crash "startling" and said it caused a large fire in a forested area behind her home. She heard more gunshots after the helicopter crashed.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the helicopter crash.

The unidentified pilot who died in the crash was a 10-year Marine Corps veteran and joined the DPS in 2021, and the trooper, who also was a paramedic, joined the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police in June 2022.

An unidentified suspect in the incident was taken into custody after being shot and sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident unfolded when local police responded to reports of domestic violence at a home, Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly told media during a Thursday morning press conference.

He described the neighborhood as being "under siege last night" and said officers and the suspect fired at each other several dozen times, while the male suspect jumped from one rooftop to another.